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EC  C  E    HOMO! 


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EDITED    BY 
DAGOBERT    D.     RUNES 


PHILOSOPHICAL    LIBRARY 

NEW   YORK 


COPYRIGHT,  1947,  BY 

THE  PHILOSOPHICAL  LIBRARY,  INC. 

15    East  40th  Street 

New  York  16,  N.  Y. 


PRINTED  IN    THE    UNITED    STATES    OF   AMERICA 


• 


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ORIGINAL  AT  THE  AMERICAN  PHILOSOPHICAL  SOCIETY, 
IN   PHILADELPHIA. 


EDITOR'S     PREFACE 

U!F  A  GREAT  MAN  DIES,  there  is  a  hole  in  the  world."  Time  may 
do  much  to  fill  that  hole;  on  the  two  hundredth  anniversary  of 
the  birth  of  Benjamin  Rush,  for  example,  few  memorials  echoed 
his  name  in  this  great  land.  Yet  few  were  as  fiery  as  he,  or  more 
influential,  in  the  vehemence  of  protest  that  brought  this  country 
into  being;  and  few  held  the  standards  of  its  early  learning  and 
culture  as  high  as  he  held  them. 

Only  Thomas  Paine — a  close  friend — could  match  Benjamin 
Rush  in  uncompromising  revolutionary  spirit.  Rush,  incidentally, 
suggested  the  title  for  Paine's  historic  pamphlet,  "Common 
Sense."  *  Together,  they  ploughed  the  field  for  revolution  in 
Colonial  America.  And  only  Benjamin  Franklin,  in  the  young 
United  States,  had  the  humane  versatility,  the  many-sided  in- 
terests, the  wide  learning,  of  Benjamin  Rush. 

The  interests  of  Dr.  Rush  were  varied,  but  their  direction  was 
unwaveringly  toward  the  betterment  of  mankind.  His  scientific 
and  medical  investigations,  as  well  as  his  social  studies  and  en- 
deavors, were  interfused  with  deeply  religious  and  ethical  feeling. 
In  science  and  medicine,  he  sought  along  the  frontiers  of  knowl- 
edge. In  the  quest  for  social  and  political  justice,  he  fought  on  the 
side  of  the  weak.  [Alexander  Hamilton  blocked  his  appointment 
to  the  medical  faculty  of  Columbia  College,  on  the  ground  of  his 
"too  radical  beliefs."] 

He  was  considered  by  many  the  great  physician  of  his  coun- 
try and  time.  Perhaps  he  was  not.  Medicine,  in  his  day,  was  still 
groping  in  the  dark.  The  bacterial  nature  of  diseases  was  as  yet 
unknown;  as  yet  undiscovered  was  the  application  of  anaesthesia, 
the  door  to  surgery. 

Yet  Benjamin  Rush  was  the  first  in  America  to  employ  oc- 

*  See  frontispiece   (facsimile  of  Diary). 


vi  EDITOR'S  PREFACE 

cupational  therapy  in  the  treatment  of  mental  ills,  and  to  en- 
courage— anticipating  modern  methods — analytical  conversation 
'with  the  patient. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  as  to  the  depth  of  Rush's  burning 
patriotism,  his  hatred  of  the  British  oppression,  of  all  tyranny. 
His  signature  on  the  Declaration  of  Independence  was  by  no 
means  a  merely  formal  one.  It  signified  not  only  his  people's  fight 
against  British  domination,  but  his  continuing  resolve  to  battle 
tyranny,  intolerance,  and  suppression  in  his  native  America. 

Benjamin  Rush's  pamphlets,  articles,  letters,  and  speeches 
mount  into  the  thousands.  He  pleaded  for  the  abolition  of  slavery. 
He  urged  the  removal  of  the  death  penalty.  He  argued  for  the 
amelioration  of  the  lot  of  civil  prisoners,  who,  often  jailed  for  no 
worse  crime  than  debt,  were  sent  to  labor  in  city-streets  chained 
down  with  heavy  iron  balls.  He  advocated  the  establishment  of 
special  hospitals  for  the  insane,  then  confined  in  vermin-infested 
stables,  at  the  mercy  of  ignorant  and  brutal  guards.  There  was 
no  current  cause  worthy  of  support  that  did  not  benefit  from 
the  warm  heart,  the  outstretched  hand,  and  the  uplifted  voice  of 
Benjamin  Rush. 

It  was  inevitable  that  so  staunch  a  fighter  should  rally  around 
him  many  friends  and  supporters,  but  also  unite  against  him  many 
who  preferred  or  profited  by  the  status  quo.  Conscious  of  the  great 
opportunities  of  the  new  country,  Rush  was  equally  aware  of  its 
failings  and  insufficiencies.  In  his  national  pride  and  his  forthright 
directness,  he  became  the  conscience  of  the  new-born  republic. 

Even  before  the  birth  of  the  new  nation,  during  the  events 
that  led  up  to  and  that  marked  the  American  Revolution,  this 
keen  conscience  of  Benjamin  Rush  was  a  goad  to  his  fellows.  It 
must  be  remembered  that  a  considerable  body  of  business  men 
and  of  politicians  was  at  first  entirely  opposed  to  a  War  for  Inde- 
pendence, and  during  the  War  clamored  for  a  policy  of  appease- 
ment. In  this  struggle  Benjamin  Rush,  along  with  his  friend, 
Thomas  Paine,  was  enlisted  in  the  determined  left.  So  strong  were 
his  political  integrity  and  fervor,  so  rigid  his  devotion  to  the 
principles  of  political  and  social  democracy,  that  he  came  into 


EDITOR'S  PREFACE  vii 

conflict  with  a  number  of  the  leaders  of  the  day.  Even  George 
Washington — who,  incidentally,  Thomas  Paine  complained,  de- 
serted him  during  his  imprisonment  at  the  time  of  the  French 
Revolution — was  brought  into  opposition  by  Rush's  refusal  to 
grant  the  merest  iota  of  compromise.  Such  men  as  he,  holding 
steadfast  to  the  ideal,  point  to  the  peaks  toward  which  civilization 
must  painfully  and  tardily  climb.  In  later  years,  Rush  removed 
from  his  papers  most  of  the  references  to  these  conflicts.  We  may 
never  resolve  some  of  the  controversies  of  their  mystery;  but  we 
may  be  confident  that  Benjamin  Rush,  though  not  always  prac- 
tical, was  always  in  the  right. 


Benjamin  Rush  was  born  on  December  24,  1745,  on  his 
father's  farm  north  of  Philadelphia.  At  an  early  age  he  was  sent 
to  the  Academy  of  his  uncle,  the  Rev.  Samuel  Finley.  Here  he 
imbibed  a  deeply  religious  spirit.  In  1759,  he  entered  Princeton 
College,  receiving  the  bachelor's  degree  before  he  had  reached 
the  age  of  fifteen. 

For  the  next  six  years,  he  devoted  himself  to  the  study  of 
medicine,  under  the  direction  of  Dr.  Redman  of  Philadelphia. 
He  then  enrolled  at  the  University  of  Edinburgh  where,  in  1768, 
he  was  awarded  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine. 

After  his  graduation,  following  a  brief  trip  to  France,  Benja- 
min Rush  returned  to  Philadelphia.  In  1769  he  was  appointed 
Professor  of  Chemistry  in  the  College  of  Philadelphia,  the  first 
medical  school  in  America.  When,  in  1791,  the  College  was  ex- 
panded into  a  University,  Rush  was  appointed  Professor  of  the 
Institutes  and  Practices  of  Medicine. 

In  the  meantime  had  come  the  struggle  for  independence, 
upon  which  Benjamin  Rush  embarked  with  equal  energy  and  de- 
votion. He  was  a  member  of  the  Revolutionary  Congress,  which 
in  1776  passed  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  He  served  in  the 
War  as  Military  Surgeon.  Having  little  taste  for  routine  politics 
or  for  professional  politicians,  Rush  later  sought  to  withdraw 
from  political  activity.  In  1799,  however,  President  Adams  hon- 


viii  EDITOR'S  PREFACE 

ored  him  with  the  appointment  as  Treasurer  of  the  National 
Mint.  He  held  this  office  for  his  remaining  fourteen  years. 

The  medical  and  social  concerns  of  Benjamin  Rush  had  never 
lapsed.  One  of  his  basic  characteristics  as  teacher  and  physician 
was  his  deep-set  conviction  that  medical  science  was  in  its  in- 
fancy. Although  the  great  bacteriological  discoveries  in  medicine 
did  not  bring  their  far-reaching  changes  until  two  generations 
later,  Rush  was  outstanding  for  his  rejection  of  medical  ortho- 
doxy, for  his  emphasis  on  continuing  sober  research.  His  self- 
denial  and  personal  fortitude  during  the  Philadelphia  yellow 
fever  epidemic  of  1795  belong  to  the  annals  of  medical  heroism. 

Benjamin  Rush  was  an  indefatigable  student  of  natural  sci- 
ence. He  was  rarely  without  a  book  in  hand.  Even  at  mealtimes, 
he  was  in  one  way  or  another  preoccupied  with  sttidy,  research, 
or  practice.  In  truly  Socratic  manner,  he  interrogated  persons  in 
all  stations  of  life,  and  he  frequently  declared  that  he  had  received 
valuable  information  from  laymen,  quacks,  even  madmen.  "The 
student,"  he  said,  "should  always,  like  a  plant,  be  in  an  absorbing 
state.  Even  his  dreams  should  not  be  permitted  to  sport  them- 
selves idly  in  his  brain." 

The  writings  of  Rush  show  a  wide  range  of  interest  and 
knowledge,  embracing  agriculture  and  the  mechanical  arts,  chem- 
istry and  medicine,  political  science  and  theology.  Numerous  art 
the  letters  and  articles  he  wrote,  anonymously  as  well  as  und^r 
his  own  name,  in  his  constant  endeavor  to  dispel  prejudice,  to 
fight  oppression,  to  elevate  the  lot  of  the  lowly. 

Rush  was  continually  active  in  the  support  of  institutions 
and  organizations  for  the  advancement  of  human  learning.  Not 
only  was  he  instrumental  in  establishing  colleges  and  other 
schools  of  higher  learning  in  his  own  state  of  Pennsylvania,  but 
he  advocated  establishment  of  free  public  schools  in  every  town- 
ship, in  order  to  create  unified  systems  of  state  education.  He 
wanted  his  beloved  American  Republic  to  grow  into  one  great 
and  enlightened  family. 

In  the  field  of  public  welfare,  Rush  was  the  founder  of  the 
Philadelphia  Dispensary,  the  first  institution  of  its  kind  in  the 


EDITOR'S  PREFACE  ix 

United  States.  He  also  made  searching  examinations  of  the  meth- 
ods of  punishment  of  criminals.  He  protested  against  the  vicious- 
ness  of  a  penal  law  that  chained  convicts  to  wheelbarrows, 
dragging  them  through  public  streets  on  road  jobs,  dressed  in 
conspicuous  convict  clothes,  with  shaven  heads  as  a  symbol  of 
infamy.  He  vehemently  maintained  that  such  a  system  tended 
only  to  harden  the  criminals,  not  to  improve  them.  In  this  field 
of  penology,  too,  Rush  was  one  of  America's  earliest  reformers. 
Benjamin  Rush's  lifework  in  the  social  and  scientific  fields 
places  him  clearly  at  the  head  of  the  early  American  fighters  for 
a  more  wholesome,  a  more  secure,  a  happier  way  of  living.  He 
stands  also  among  the  early  patriots  who  with  clear  eye  and  un- 
flagging zeal  saw,  and  worked  to  achieve,  the  goals  of  human 
freedom.  He  himself  sums  up  this  aspect  of  his  being:  "My  read- 
ing, observations,  and  reflections  have  tended  more  and  more  to 
show  the  absurdity  of  hereditary  power  and  to  prove  that  no 
form  of  government  can  be  rational,  but  that  which  is  derived 
from  the  suffrages  of  the  people  who  are  the  subjects  of  it." 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

EDITOR'S  INTRODUCTION  v 

ON    GOOD    GOVERNMENT 

ON  SLAVE-KEEPING    [1773]  3 
A  PLAN  OF  A  PEACE-OFFICE  FOR  THE  UNITED  STATES 

[1799]  19 
ON  HELPING  THE  AFRICANS  [date  UllknOWll]  24 
ON  THE  DEFECTS  OF  THE  CONFEDERATION  [1787]  2 6 
ON  SECURITIES  FOR  LIBERTY  [1792]  32 
ON  PUNISHING  MURDER  BY  DEATH  [1792]  35 
OBSERVATIONS  ON  THE  GOVERNMENT  OF  PENN- 
SYLVANIA [1777]  54 

ON    EDUCATION 

OF  THE  MODE  OF  EDUCATION  PROPER  IN  A  REPUBLIC 

[I798]  87 

EDUCATION  AGREEABLE  TO  A  REPUBLICAN  FORM  OF 

GOVERNMENT  [1786]  97 

PLAN  OF  A  FEDERAL  UNIVERSITY  [1788]  I O I 

THE  AMUSEMENTS  AND  PUNISHMENTS  WHICH  ARE 

PROPER  FOR  SCHOOLS  [1790]  IO6 

THE  BIBLE  AS  A  SCHOOL  BOOK  [1791]  117 

ON    NATURAL    AND    MEDICAL    SCIENCES 

LECTURES  ON  ANIMAL  LIFE   [1799]  133 

THE    INFLUENCE    OF    PHYSICAL    CAUSES    UPON    THE 

MORAL  FACULTY   [1786]  1 8 1 

zi 


xii  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

ON  THE  DIFFERENT  SPECIES  OF  MANIA   [date  UllkllOWnJ  212 

ON  THE  DIFFERENT  SPECIES  OF  PHOBIA   [date  UnkllOWll]  22O 

THE  PROGRESS  OF  MEDICINE    [l8oi]  2 27 

OBSERVATIONS  AND  REASONING  IN  MEDICINE   [1791]  245 
MEDICINE   AMONG   THE   INDIANS   OF   NORTH   AMERICA 

[1774]  M4 

THE  VICES  AND  VIRTUES  OF  PHYSICIANS    [l8oi]  293 

DUTIES  OF  A  PHYSICIAN   [1789]  308 

ON    MISCELLANEOUS    THINGS 

INFLUENCE  OF  THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION    [1789]  325 

THE  EFFECTS  OF  ARDENT  SPIRITS  UPON  MAN   [1805]  334 

ON  OLD  AGE    [1789]  342 

SERMON   ON   EXERCISE    [1772]  358 

ON  MANNERS    [1769]  373 

DIRECTIONS  FOR  CONDUCTING  A  NEWSPAPER    [1788]  396 

THE  BENEFITS  OF  CHARITY    [1788]  399 

THE  YELLOW  FEVER   [1792]  404 

APPENDIX 

LIST  OF  WRITINGS  PUBLISHED  DURING  LIFETIME  419 

SELECTED  BIBLIOGRAPHY  423 

INDEX  425 


ON   GOOD   GOVERNMENT 


ON     SLAVE-KEEPING 


So  MUCH  hath  been  said  upon  the  subject  of  Slave-keeping,  that 
an  apology  may  be  required  for  this  paper.  The  only  one  I  shall 
off er  is,  that  the  evil  still  continues.  This  may  in  part  be  owing 
to  the  great  attachment  we  have  to  our  own  interest,  and  in  part 
to  the  subject  not  being  fully  exhausted.  The  design  of  the  fol- 
lowing paper  is  to  sum  up  the  leading  arguments  against  it,  sev- 
eral of  which  have  not  been  urged  by  any  of  those  authors  who 
have  written  upon  it. 

Without  entering  into  the  history  of  the  facts  which  relate 
to  the  slave-trade,  I  shall  proceed  immediately  to  combat  the 
principal  arguments  which  are  used  to  support  it. 

And  here  I  need  hardly  say  any  thing  in  favor  of  the  Intellects 
of  the  Negroes,  or  of  their  capacities  for  virtue  and  happiness, 
although  these  have  been  supposed  by  some  to  be  inferior  to 
those  of  the  inhabitants  of  Europe.  The  accounts  which  travellers 
give  us  of  their  ingenuity,  humanity,  and  strong  attachment  to 
their  parents,  relations,  friends  and  country,  show  us  that  they 
are  equal  to  the  Europeans,  when  we  allow  for  the  diversity  of 
temper  and  genius  which  is  occasioned  by  climate.  We  have 
many  well  attested  anecdotes  of  as  sublime  and  disinterested 
virtue  among  them  as  ever  adorned  a  Roman  or  a  Christian  char- 
acter.* But  we  are  to  distinguish  between  an  African  in  his  own 

*  See  SPECTATOR,  Vol.  I.  No.  1 1 . 

There  is  now  in  the  town  of  Boston  a  Free  Negro  Girl,  about  18 
years  of  age,  who  has  been  but  9  years  in  the  country,  whose  singular 
genius  and  accomplishments  are  such  as  not  only  do  honor  to  her  sex, 
but  to  human  nature.  Several  of  her  poems  have  been  printed,  and  read 
with  pleasure  by  the  public. 

3 


4          SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

country,  and  an  African  in  a  state  of  slavery  in  America.  Slavery 
is  so  foreign  to  the  human  mind,  that  the  moral  faculties,  as  well 
as  those  of  the  understanding  are  debased,  'and  rendered  torpid 
by  it.  All  the  vices  which  are  charged  upon  the  Negroes  in  the 
southern  colonies  and  the  West-Indies,  such  as  Idleness,  Treach- 
ery, Theft,  and  the  like,  are  the  genuine  offspring  of  slavery,  and 
serve  as  an  argument  to  prove  that  they  were  not  intended,  by 
Providence  for  it. 

Nor  let  it  be  said,  in  the  present  Age,  that  their  black  color 
(as  it  is  commonly  called),  either  subjects  them  to,  or  qualifies 
them  for  slavery.*  The  vulgar  notion  of  their  being  descended 
from  Cain,  who  was  supposed  to  have  been  marked  with  this 
color,  is  too  absurd  to  need  a  refutation. — Without  enquiring 
into  the  Cause  of  this  blackness,  I  shall  only  add  upon  this  sub- 
ject, that  so  far  from  being  a  curse,  it  subjects  the  Negroes  to  no 
inconveniencies,  but  on  the  contrary  qualifies  them  for  that  part 
of  the  Globe  in  which  providence  has  placed  them.  The  ravages 
of  heat,  diseases  and  time,  appear  less  in  their  faces  than  in  a  white 
one;  and  when  we  exclude  variety  of  color  from  our  ideas  of 


*  Montesquieu,  in  his  Spirit  of  Laws,  treats  this  argument  with  the 
ridicule  it  deserves. 

"Were  I  to  vindicate  our  right  to  make  slaves  of  the  Negroes,  these 
should  be  my  arguments. 

The  Europeans  having  extirpated  the  American  Indians,  were  obliged 
to  make  slaves  of  the  Africans,  for  clearing  such  vast  tracts  of  land. 

Sugar  would  be  too  dear,  if  the  plants  which  produce  it  were  culti- 
vated by  any  other  than  slaves. 

These  creatures  are  all  over  black,  and  with  such  a  flat  nose,  that  they 
can  scarcely  be  pitied. 

It  is  hardly  to  be  believed  that  God,  who  is  a  wise  being,  should  place 
a  soul,  especially  a  good  soul,  in  such  a  black  ugly  body. 

The  Negroes  prefer  a  glass  necklace  to  that  gold,  which  polite  nations 
so  highly  value:  can  there  be  a  greater  proof  of  their  wanting  common 
sense. 

It  is  impossible  for  us  to  suppose  these  creatures  to  be  men,  because, 
allowing  them  to  be  men,  a  suspicion  would  follow,  that  we  ourselves  are 
not  Christians." 

BOOK  xv.  CHAP.  v. 


ON  GOOD  GOVERNMENT  5 

Beauty,  they  may  be  said  to  possess  every  thing  necessary  to 
constitute  it  in  common  with  the  white  people.f 

It  has  been  urged  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  Sugar  Islands  and 
South  Carolina,  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  carry  on  the  manu- 
factories of  Sugar,  Rice,  and  Indigo,  without  Negro  slaves.  No 
manufactory  can  ever  be  of  consequence  enough  to  society,  to 
admit  the  least  violation  of  the  laws  of  justice  or  humanity.  But 
I  am  far  from  thinking  the  arguments  used  in  favor  of  employ- 
ing Negroes  for  the  cultivation  of  these  articles,  should  have 
any  weight. 

M.  Le  Poivre,  late  envoy  from  the  king  of  France,  to  the 
king  of  Cochin-China,  and  now  intendant  of  the  isles  of  Bour- 
bon and  Mauritius,  in  his  observations  upon  the  manners  and  arts 
of  the  various  nations  in  Africa  and  Asia,  speaking  of  the  culture 
of  sugar  in  Cochin-China,  has  the  following  remarks — "It  is 
worthy  observation  too,  that  the  sugar  cane  is  there  cultivated 
by  freemen,  and  all  the  process  of  preparation  and  refining,  the 
work  of  free  hands.  Compare  then  the  price  of  the  Cochin- 
Chinese  production  with  the  same  commodity  which  is  culti- 
vated and  prepared  by  the  wretched  slaves  of  our  European 
colonies,  and  judge  if,  to  procure  sugar  from  our  colonies,  it 
was  necessary  to  authorize  by  law  the  slavery  of  the  unhappy 
Africans  transported  to  America.  From  what  I  have  observed 
at  Cochin-China,  I  cannot  entertain  a  doubt,  but  that  our  West- 
India  colonies,  had  they  been  distributed  without  reservation 
amongst  a  free  people,  would  have  produced  double  the  quan- 
tity that  it  now  procured  from  the  labor  of  the  unfortunate 
Negroes. 

What  advantage,  then,  has  accrued  to  Europe,  civilized  as 
it  is,  and  thoroughly  versed  in  the  laws  of  nature,  and  the  rights 

t  "Quamvis  ille  niger,  quamvis  tu  candidus  esses. 

Nimium  ne  crede  colori. 

Alba  Ligustra  cadunt;  Vaccinia  nigra  leguntur." 

VIRGIL. 

"I  am  black, but  comely" 

SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 


6          SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

of  mankind,  by  legally  authorizing  in  our  colonies,  the  daily 
outrages  against  human  nature,  permitting  them  to  debase  man 
almost  below  the  level  of  the  beasts  of  the  field?  These  slavish 
laws  have  proved  as  opposite  to  its  interest,  as  they  are  to  its 
honor,  and  to  the  laws  of  humanity.  This  remark  I  have  often 
made. 

Liberty  and  property  form  the  basis  of  abundance,  and  good 
agriculture:  I  never  observed  it  to  flourish  where  those  rights 
of  mankind  were  not  firmly  established.  The  earth  which  mul- 
tiplies her  productions  with  a  kind  of  profusion,  under  the  hands 
of  the  free-born  laborer  seems  to  shrink  into  barrenness  under 
the  sweat  of  the  slave.  Such  is  the  will  of  the  great  Author  of 
our  Nature,  who  has  created  man  free,  and  assigned  to  him  the 
earth,  that  he  might  cultivate  his  possession  witji  the  sweat  of 
his  brow;  but  still  should  enjoy  his  Liberty. 

Now  if  the  plantations  in  the  islands  and  the  southern  colo- 
nies were  more  limited,  and  freemen  only  employed  in  working 
them,  the  general  product  would  be  greater,  although  the  profits 
to  individuals  would  be  less, — a  circumstance  this,  which  by 
diminishing  opulence  in  a  few,  would  suppress  luxury  and  vice, 
and  promote  that  equal  distribution  of  property,  which  appears 

best  calculated  to  promote  the  welfare  of  society. *  I  know 

it  has  been  said  by  some,  that  none  but  the  natives  of  warm 
climates  could  undergo  the  excessive  heat  and  labor  of  the  West- 
India  islands.  But  this  argument  is  founded  upon  an  error;  for 
the  reverse  of  this  is  true.  I  have  been  informed  by  good  author- 
ity, that  one  European  who  escapes  the  first  or  second  year, 

*  From  this  account  of  Le  Poivre's,  we  may  learn  the  futility  of  the 
argument,  that  the  number  of  vessels  in  the  sugar  trade,  serve  as  a  nursery 
for  seamen,  and  that  the  Negroes  consume  a  large  quantity  of  the  manu- 
factures of  Great  Britain.  If  freemen  only  were  employed  in  the  islands, 
a  double  quantity  of  sugar  would  be  made,  and  of  course  twice  the  num- 
ber of  vessels  and  seamen  would  be  made  use  of  in  the  trade.  One  freeman 
consumes  yearly  four  times  the  quantity  of  British  goods  that  a  Negro 
does.  Slaves  multiply  in  all  countries  slowly.  Freemen  multiply  in  pro- 
portion as  slavery  is  discouraged.  It  is  to  be  hoped  therefore  that  motives 
of  policy  will  at  last  induce  Britons  to  give  up  a  trade,  which  those  of 
justice  and  humanity  cannot  prevail  upon  them  to  relinquish. 


ON  GOOD  GOVERNMENT  7 

will  do  twice  the  work,  and  live  twice  the  number  of  years  that 
an  ordinary  Negro  will  do:  nor  need  we  be  surprised  at  this, 
when  we  hear  that  such  is  the  natural  fertility  of  the  soil,  and 
so  numerous  the  spontaneous  fruits  of  the  earth  in  the  interior 
parts  of  Africa,  that  the  natives  live  in  plenty  at  the  expence 
of  little  or  no  labor,  which,  in  warm  climates,  has  ever  been 
found  to  be  incompatible  with  long  life  and  happiness.  Future 
ages,  therefore,  when  they  read  the  accounts  of  the  Slave  Trade 

( — if  they  do  not  regard  them  as  fabulous) will  be  at  a  loss 

which  to  condemn  most,  our  folly  or  our  guilt,  in  abetting  this 
direct  violation  of  the  laws  of  nature  and  religion. 

But  there  are  some  who  have  gone  so  far  as  to  say  that 
slavery  is  not  repugnant  to  the  genius  of  Christianity,  and  that 
it  is  not  forbidden  in  any  part  of  the  Scriptures.  Natural  and 
revealed  Religion  always  speak  the  same  things,  although  the 
latter  delivers  its  precepts  with  a  louder,  and  more  distinct  voice 
than  the  former.  If  it  could  be  proved  that  no  testimony  was  to 
be  found  in  the  Bible  against  a  practice  so  pregnant  with  evils 
of  the  most  destructive  tendency  to  society,  it  would  be  suffi- 
cient to  overthrow  its  divine  original.  We  read  it  is  true  of 
Abraham's  having  slaves  born  in  his  house;  and  we  have  reason 
to  believe,  that  part  of  the  riches  of  the  patriarchs  consisted  in 
them:  but  we  can  no  more  infer  the  lawfulness  of  the  practice, 
from  the  short  account  which  the  Jewish  historian  gives  us  of 
these  facts,  than  we  can  vindicate  telling  a  lie,  because  Rahab 
is  not  condemned  for  it  in  the  account  which  is  given  of  her 
deceiving  the  king  of  Jericho.*  We  read  that  some  of  the  same 

*3  And  the  king  of  Jericho  sent  unto  Rahab,  saying,  Bring  forth  the 
men  that  are  come  to  thee,  which  are  entered  into  thine  house:  for  they 
be  come  to  search  out  all  the  country. 

4  And  the  woman  took  the  two  men,  and  hid  them,  and  said  thus, 
There  came  men  unto  me,  but  I  wist  not  whence  they  'were. 

5  And  it  came  to  pass  about  the  time  of  shutting  of  the  gate,  when 
it  was  dark,  that  the  men  went  out:  whither  the  men  went,  I  wot  not: 
pursue  after  them  quickly,  for  ye  shall  overtake  them. 

6  But  she  brought  them  up  to  the  roof  of  the  house,  and  hid  them 
with  the  stalks  of  flax,  which  sne  had  laid  in  order  upon  the  roof. 

JOSHUA,  Chap.  II. 


8          SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

men  indulged  themselves  in  a  plurality  of  wives,  without  any 
strictures  being  made  upon  their  conduct  for  it;  and  yet  no  one 
will  pretend  to  say,  that  this  is  not  forbidden  in  many  parts  of 
the  Old  Testament. f  But  we  are  told  the  Jews  kept  the  heathens 
in  perpetual  bondage.J  The  design  of  providence  in  permitting 
this  evil,  was  probably  to  prevent  the  Jews  from  marrying  among 
strangers,  to  which  their  intercourse  with  them  upon  any  other 
footing  than  that  of  slaves,  would  naturally  have  inclined  them.* 
Had  this  taken  place — their  Natural  Religion  would  have  been 
corrupted — they  would  have  contracted  all  their  vices,**  and  the 
intention  of  providence  in  keeping  them  a  distinct  people,  in 
order  to  accomplish  the  promise  made  to  Abraham,  that  "in  his 
Seed  all  the  Nations  of  the  earth  should  be  blessed,"  would  have 
been  defeated;  so  that  the  descent  of  the  MESSIAH  from  ABRA- 
HAM, could  not  have  been  traced,  and  the  divine  commission  of 
the  Son  of  God,  would  have  wanted  one  of  its  most  powerful 
arguments  to  support  it.  But  with  regard  to  their  own  country- 
men, it  is  plain,  perpetual  slavery  was  not  tolerated.  Hence,  at 
the  end  of  seven  years  or  in  the  year  of  the  jubilee,  all  the 

fProv.  v.  18,  19,  20. 

JLevit.  xxv.  44,  45,  46. 

*  That  marriage  with  strangers  was  looked  upon  as  a  crime  among 
the  Jews,  we  learn  from  Ezra  ix.  i  to  6,  also  from  the  whole  of  Chapter  x. 
**  May  not  this  be  the  reason  why  swine's  flesh  was  forbidden  to  the 
Jews,  lest  they  should  be  tempted  to  eat  with  their  heathen  neighbours, 
who  used  it  in  diet?  This  appears  more  probable  than  the  opinion  of 
Doctor  MEAD,  who  supposes  that  it  has  a  physical  tendency  to  produce 
the  leprosy;  or  that  of  VOLTAIRE,  who  asserts  that  the  Jews  learned  to 
abstain  from  this  flesh  from  the  Egyptians,  who  valued  the  Hog  almost 
to  a  degree  of  idolatry  for  its  great  usefulness  in  rooting  up  the  Ground. 
What  makes  this  conjecture  the  more  probable  is,  that  the  Jews  abstained 
from  several  other  kinds  of  flesh  used  by  their  heathen  neighbours,  which 
have  never  been  accused  of  bringing  on  diseases  of  the  skin,  and  which 
were  used  constantly  in  diet  by  the  Egyptians.  The  account  which  Taci- 
tus gives  of  the  diet  and  custom  of  the  Jews,  is  directly  to  our  purpose — 

"Bos  quoque  immolantur,  quern  JEgyptii  apin  colunt.  ^gyptii  ple- 
raque  animalia,  Effigiesque  compositas  venerantur;  Judaei  mente  sola, 
unumque  numen  intelligunt,  Separati  Epulis,  discreti  Cubilibus,  Aliena- 
rum  Concubitu  Abstinent." 

HISTOR.  LIB.  V. 


ON  GOOD  GOVERNMENT  9 

Hebrew  slaves  were  set  at  liberty,*  and  it  was  held  unlawful  to 
detain  them  in  servitude  longer  than  that  time,  except  by  their 
own  consent.f  But  if,  in  the  partial  revelation  which  GOD 
made,  of  his  will  to  the  Jews,  we  find  such  testimonies  against 
slavery,  what  may  we  not  expect  from  the  Gospel,  the  design 
of  which  was  to  abolish  all  distinctions  of  name  and  country. 
While  the  Jews  thought  they  complied  with  the  precepts  of  the 
law,  in  confining  the  love  of  their  neighbour  "to  the  children  of 
tjieir  own  people,"  Christ  commands  us  to  look  upon  all  mankind 
even  our  enemies  J  as  our  neighbours  and  brethren,  and  "in  all 
things,  to  do  unto  them  whatever  we  would  wish  they  should 
do  unto  us.''  He  tells  us  further  that  his  "Kingdom  is  not  of  this 
World,"  and  therefore  constantly  avoids  saying  any  thing  that 
might  interfere  directly  with  the  Roman  or  Jewish  governments: 
so  that  altho'  he  does  not  call  upon  masters  to  emancipate  their 
slaves,  or  upon  slaves  to  assert  that  liberty  wherewith  God  and 
nature  had  made  them  free,  yet  there  is  scarcely  a  parable  or  a 
sermon  in  the  whole  history  of  his  life,  but  what  contains  the 
strongest  arguments  against  slavery.  Every  prohibition  of  cov- 
etousness — intemperance — pride — uncleanness — theft — and  mur- 
der, which  he  delivered, — every  lesson  of  meekness,  humility, 
forbearance,  charity,  self-denial,  and  brotherly-love  which  he 
taugh't,  are  levelled  against  this  evil; — for  slavery,  while  it  in- 
cludes all  the  former  vices,  necessarily  excludes  the  practice  of 
all  the  latter  virtues,  both  from  the  master  and  the  slave. — Let 
such,  therefore,  who  vindicate  the  traffic  of  buying  and  selling 
souls,  seek  some  modern  system  of  religion  to  support  it,  and 
not  presume  to  sanctify  their  crimes  by  attempting  to  reconcile 
it  to  the  sublime  and  perfect  Religion  of  the  Great  Author  of 
Christianity.** 

*  Deuteronomy  xxiv.  7. 

fDeut.  xv.  12. 

t  This  is  strongly  inculcated  in  the  story  of  the  good  Samaritan, 
Luke  x.  • 

**  The  influence  of  Christianity  in  putting  a  stop  to  slavery,  appears 
in  the  first  Christian  emperor  Constantine,  who  commanded,  under  the 
severest  penalties,  all  such  as  had  slaves,  to  set  them  at  liberty.  He  after- 


io        SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

There  are  some  amongst  us  who  cannot  help  allowing  the 
force  of  our  last  argument,  but  plead  as  a  motive  for  importing 
and  keeping  slaves,  that  they  become  acquainted  with  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  religion  of  our  country. — This  is  like  justifying  a 
highway  robbery  because  part  of  the  money  acquired  in  this 
manner  was  appropriated  to  some  religious  use. — Christianity 
will  never  be  propagated  by  any  other  methods  than  those  em- 
ployed by  Christ  and  his  apostles.  Slavery  is  an  engine  as  little 
fitted  for  that  purpose  as  fire  or  the  sword.  A  Christian  slave  is 
a  contradiction  in  terms.*  But  if  we  enquire  into  the  methods 

wards  contrived  to  render  the  manumission  of  them  much  easier  than 
formerly,  for  instead  of  recurring  to  the  forms  prescribed  by  the  Roman 
laws,  which  were  attended  with  great  difficulties  and  a  considerable  ex- 
pence,  he  gave  leave  to  masters  to  infranchise  their  slaves  in  the  presence 
of  a  bishop,  or  a  minister  and  a  Christian  assembly. 

Universal  History,  vol.  xv.  p.  574,  577. 

Dr.  ROBERTSON,  in  treating  of  those  causes  which  weakened  the 
feudal  system,  and  finally  abolished  slavery  in  Europe,  in  the  i4th  cen- 
tury, has  the  following  observations 

"The  gentle  spirit  of  the  Christian  religion,  together  with  the  doc- 
trines which  it  teaches,  concerning  the  original  equality  of  mankind,  as 
well  as  the  impartial  eye  with  which  the  almighty  regards  men  of  every 
condition,  and  admits  them  to  a  participation  of  his  benefits,  are  incon- 
sistent with  servitude.  But  in  this,  as  in  many  other  instances,  considera- 
tions of  interest  and  the  maxims  of  false  policy,  led  men  to  a  conduct 
inconsistent  with  their  principles.  They  were  so  sensible,  however,  of  the 
inconsistency,  that  to  set  their  fellow  Christians  at  liberty  from  servitude 
was  deemed  an  act  of  piety  highly  meritorious,  and  acceptable  to  Heaven. 
The  humane  spirit  of  the  Christian  religion,  struggled  with  the  maxims 
and  manners  of  the  world,  and  contributed  more  than  any  other  circum- 
stance, to  introduce  the  practice  of  manumission.  The  formality  of 
manumission  was  executed  in  a  church  or  a  religious  assembly. — The 
person  to  be  set  free,  was  led  round  the  great  altar,  with  a  torch  in  his 
hand,  he  took  hold  of  the  horns  of  the  altar,  and  there  the  solemn  words 
conferring  liberty,  were  pronounced." 

CHARLES  V.  Historical  Illustrations.  Note  xx. 

*  St.  Paul's  letter  to  Philemon,  in  behalf  of  Onesimus,  is  said  by  some 
to  contradict  this  assertion,  but,  if  viewed  properly,  will  rather  support  it. 
He  desires  Philemon  to  receive  him  "not  as  a  servant,  but  as  a  brother 
beloved,"  "as  his  son — and  part  of  himself."  In  other  parts  of  his  writings, 
he  obliquely  hints  at  the  impossibility  of  uniting  the  duties  of  a  Chris- 


ON  GOOD  GOVERNMENT  11 

employed  for  converting  the  Negroes  to  Christianity,  we  shall 
find  the  means  suited  to  the  end  proposed.  In  many  places  Sunday 
is  appropriated  to  work  for  themselves.  Reading  and  writing  are 
discouraged  among  them.  A  belief  is  even  inculcated  among 
some,  that  they  have  no  souls.  In  a  word, — Every  attempt  to 
instruct  or  convert  them,  has  been  constantly  opposed  by  their 
masters.  Nor  has  the  example  of  their  Christian  masters  any 
tendency  to  prejudice  them  in  favor  of  our  religion.  How;  often 
do  they  betray,  in  their  sudden  transports  of  anger  and  resent- 
ment (against  which  there  is  no  restraint  provided  towards  their 

Negroes)   the  most  violent  degrees  of  passion  and  fury! 

What  luxury — what  ingratitude  to  the  supreme  being — what 
impiety  in  their  ordinary  conversation  do  some  of  them  discover 
in  the  presence  of  their  slaves;  I  say  nothing  of  the  dissolution 
of  marriage  vows,  or  the  entire  abolition  of  matrimony,  which 
the  frequent  sale  of  them  introduces,  and  which  are  directly 
contrary  to  the  law  of  nature  and  the  principles  of  Christianity. 
Would  to  heaven  I  could  here  conceal  the  shocking  violations 
of  chastity,  which  some  of  them  are  obliged  to  undergo  without 
daring  to  complain.  Husbands  have  been  forced  to  prostitute 
their  wives,  and  mothers  their  daughters,  to  gratify  the  brutal 
lust  of  a  master.  This — all — this  is  practised — blush — ye  impure 

and  hardened  monsters,  while  I  repeat  it by  men  who  call 

themselves  Christians! 

But  further It  has  been  said  that  we  do  a  kindness  to  the 

Negroes  by  bringing  them  to  America,  as  we  thereby  save  their 
lives,  which  had  been  forfeited  by  their  being  conquered  in  war.* 

tian,  with  the  offices  of  a  slave.  "Ye  are  bought  with  a  price,  be  not  there- 
fore the  servants  of  men."  i  Corinth,  vii.  23.  Had  he  lived  to  see  Chris- 
tianity established  by  Law,  in  the  countries  where  he  preached,  with  what 
a  torrent  of  Christian  eloquence  may  we  not  suppose  he  would  have 
declaimed  against  slavery! 

*  "From  the  right  of  killing  in  case  of  conquest,  politicians  have 
drawn  that  of  reducing  to  slavery;  a  consequence  as  ill  grounded  as  the 
principle. 

There  is  no  such  thing  as  a  right  of  reducing  people  to  slavery,  but 
when  it  becomes  necessary  for  the  preservation  of  the  conquest.  Preserva- 


ii        SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

Let  such  as  prefer  or  inflict  slavery  rather  than  death,  disown 
their  being  descended  from  or  connected  with  our  mother 
countries. — But  it  will  be  found,  upon  enquiry,  that  many  are 
stolen  or  seduced  from  their  friends,  who  have  never  been  con- 
quered; and  it  is  plain,  from  the  testimony  of  historians  and 
travellers,  that  wars  were  uncommon  among  them,  until  the 
Christians  who  began  the  slave  trade,  stirred  up  the  different 
nations  to  fight  against  each  other.  Sooner  let  them  imbrue  their 
hands  in  each  others  blood,  or  condemn  one  another  to  per- 
petual slavery,  than  the  name  of  one  Christian,  or  one  American 
be  stained  by  the  perpetuation  of  such  enormous  crimes. -Nor 
let  it  be  urged  that  by  treating  slaves  well,  we  render  their 

situation  happier  in  this  country  than  it  was  in  their  own. 

slavery  and  vice  are  connected  together,  and  the  latter  is  always 
a  source  of  misery.  Besides,  by  the  greatest  humanity  we  can 
show  them,  we  only  lessen,  but  do  not  remove  the  crime,  for 
the  injustice  of  it  continues  the  same.  The  laws  of  retribution 
are  so  strongly  inculcated  by  the  moral  governor  of  the  world, 
that  even  the  ox  is  entitled  to  his  reward  for  "treading  the  corn." 
How  great  then  must  be  the  amount  of  that  injustice  which 
deprives  so  many  of  our  fellow  creatures  of  the  just  reward  of 
their  labor!  * 

tion,  but  not  servitude,  is  the  end  of  conquest;  though  servitude  may 
happen  sometimes  to  be  a  necessary  means  of  preservation. 

Even  in  that  case  it  is  contrary  to  the  nature  of  things,  that  the 
slavery  should  be  perpetual.  The  people  enslaved  ought  to  be  rendered 
capable  of  becoming  subjects." 

Montesquieu's  Spirit  of  Laws,  Book  x.  Chap.  3 

"Servi  autem  ex  eo  appellati  sunt,  quod  Imperatores  captivos  vendere, 
ac  per  hoc  servare,  nee  occidere  solent.  Servitus  est  constitutio  Juris 

Gentium,  qua  quis  Dominio  alieno  CONTRA  NATURAM  subjicitur. 

Justinian.  Institut.  L.  i.  Tit.  3. 

*  The  debt  of  a  master  to  a  Negro  man  whose  work  is  valued  at  ten 
pounds  sterling  a  year,  deducting  forty  shillings  a  year,  which  is  the  most 
that  is  laid  out  for  their  clothing  in  the  West-Indies,  amounts,  in  the 
course  of  20  years,  to  £.  160  sterling.  The  victuals  are  included  in  the 
above  wages.  These^  consist  chiefly  of  vegetables,  and  are  very  cheap. 


ON  GOOD  GOVERNMENT  13 

But  it  will  be  asked  here,  What  steps  shall  we  take  to  remedy 
this  evil,  and  what  shall  we  do  with  those  slaves  we  have  akeady 
in  this  country?  This  is  indeed  a  most  difficult  question.  But 
let  every  man  contrive  to  answer  it  for  himself.  If  you  possessed 
an  estate  which  was  bequeathed  to  you  by  your  ancestors,  and 
were  afterwards  convinced  that  it  was  the  just  property  of 
another  man,  would  you  think  it  right  to  continue  in  the  pos- 
session of  it?  would  you  not  give  it  up  immediately  to  the  lawful 
owner?  The  voice  of  all  mankind  would  mark  him  for  a  villain 
who  would  refuse  to  comply  with  this  demand  of  justice.  And 
is  not  keeping  a  slave  after  you  are  convinced  of  the  unlawfulness 
of  it — a  crime  of  the  same  nature?  All  the  money  you  save,  or 
acquire  by  their  labor  is  stolen  from  them;  and  however  plausi- 
ble the  excuse  may  be  that  you  form  to  reconcile  it  to  your 
consciences,  yet  be  assured  that  your  crime  stands  registered 
in  the  court  of  Heaven  as  a  breach  of  the  eighth  commandment. 

The  first  step  to  be  taken  to  put  a  stop  to  slavery  in  this 
country,  is  to  leave  off  importing  slaves.  For  this  purpose  let 
our  assemblies  unite  in  petitioning  the  King  and  Parliament  to 
dissolve  the  African  Company.*  It  is  by  this  incorporated  band 
of  robbers  that  the  trade  has  been  chiefly  carried  on  to  America. 
We  have  the  more  reason  to  expect  relief  from  an  application 
at  this  juncture,  as,  by  a  late  decision  in  favor  of  a  Virginia  slave, 
at  Westminster-Hall,  the  clamors  of  the  whole  nation  are  raised 
against  them.  Let  such  of  our  countrymen  as  engage  in  the  slave 
trade,  be  shunned  as  the  greatest  enemies  to  our  country,  and, 
let  the  vessels  which  bring  the  slaves  to  us,  be  avoided  as  if  they 
bore  in  them  the  seeds  of  that  forbidden  fruit,  whose  baneful 

taste  destroyed  both  the  natural  and  moral  world. As  for  the 

Negroes  among  us,  who,  from  having  acquired  all  the  low  vices 
of  slavery,  or  who,  from  age  or  infirmities  are  unfit  to  be  set  at 

*  The  Virginia  Assembly,  which  had  the  honor  of  being  first  on  the 
continent  in  opposing  the  American  Stamp  Act  by  their  Resolves,  have 
lately  set  another  laudable  example  to  the  colonies  in  being  the  first  in 
petitioning  for  a  redress  of  this  grievance. 


i4        SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

liberty,  I  would  propose,  for  the  good  of  society,  that  they 
should  continue  the  property  of  those  with  whom  they  grew 
old,  or  from  whom  they  contracted  those  vices  and  infirmities. 
But  let  the  young  Negroes  be  educated  in  the  principles  of 

virtue  and  religion — let  them  be  taught  to  read  and  write and 

afterwards  instructed  in  some  business,  whereby  they  may  be 
able  to  maintain  themselves.  Let  laws  be  made  to  limit  the  time 
of  their  servitude,  and  to  entitle  them  to  all  the  privileges  of 
free-born  British  subjects.  At  any  rate  let  retribution  be  done 
to  God  and  to  society.* 

*  A  worthy  friend  of  mine  has  favored  me  with  the  following  Ex- 
tract of  a  letter  from  GRANVILLE  SHARP,  Esq;  of  London. 

"I  am  told  of  some  regulations  that  have  taken  place  in  the  Spanish 
Colonies,  which  do  the  Spaniards  much  honor,  and  are  certainly  worthy 
our  imitation,  in  case  we  should  not  be  so  happy  as  to  obtain  an  entire 
abolition  of  slavery  and  probably  you  wou'd  find  many  American  sub- 
jects that  wou'd  be  willing  to  promote  such  regulations,  tho'  the  same 
people  wou'd  strenuously  oppose  the  scheme  of  a  total  abolition  of 
slavery.  I  have  never  seen  an  account  of  the  Spanish  regulations  in  writing, 
but  I  understand  that  they  are  to  the  following  effect:  As  soon  as  a  slave 
is  landed,  his  name,  price,  &c.  are  register'd  in  a  public  office,  and  the 
master  is  obliged  to  allow  him  one  working  day  in  every  week  to  him- 
self, besides  Sundays,  so  that  if  the  slave  chuses  to  work  for  his  master 
on  that  day,  he  receives  the  wages  of  a  freeman  for  it,  and  whatever  he 
gains  by  his  labor  on  that  day,  is  so  secured  to  him  by  law,  that  the 
master  cannot  deprive  him  of  it.  This  is  certainly  a  considerable  step 
towards  the  abolishing  absolute  slavery.  As  soon  as  the  slave  is  able  to 
purchase  another  working  day,  the  master  is  obliged  to  sell  it  to  him  at 
a  proportionable  price,  viz.  i -fifth  part  of  his  original  cost:  and  so  like- 
wise the  remaining  4  days  at  the  same  rate,  as  soon  as  the  slave  is  able 
to  redeem  them,  after  which  he  is  absolutely  free.  This  is  such  an  en- 
couragement to  industry,  that  even  the  most  indolent  are  tempted  to 
exert  themselves.  Men  who  have  thus  worked  out  their  freedom  are 
inured  to  the  labor  of  the  country  and  are  certainly  the  most  useful 
subjects  that  a  colony  can  acquire.  Regulations  might  be  formed  upon 
the  same  plan  to  encourage  the  industry  of  slaves  that  are  already  im- 
ported into  the  colonies,  which  would  teach  them  how  to  maintain  them- 
selves and  be  as  useful,  as  well  as  less  expensive  to  the  planter.  They 
would  by  such  means  become  members  or  society  and  have  an  interest 
in  the  welfare  of  the  community,  which  would  add  greatly  to  the  strength 
and  security  of  each  colony;  whereas,  at  present,  many  of  the  planters 
are  in  continual  danger  of  being  cut  off  by  their  slaves, — a  fate  which, 
they  but  too  justly  deserve!" 


ON  GOOD  GOVERNMENT  15 

And  now  my  countrymen,  What  shall  I  add  more  to  rouse 
up  your  indignation  against  slave-keeping.  Consider  the  many 
complicated  crimes  it  involves  in  it.  Think  of  the  bloody  wars 
which  are  fomented  by  it,  among  the  African  nations,  or  if  these 
are  too  common  to  affect  you,  think  of  the  pangs  which  attend 
the  dissolution  of  the  ties  of  nature  in  those  who  are  stolen  from 
their  relations.  Think  of  the  many  thousands  who  perish  by 
sickness,  melancholy  and  suicide,  in  their  voyages  to  America. 
Pursue  the  poor  devoted  victims  to  one  of  the  West  India 
islands,  and  see  them  exposed  there  to  public  sale.  Hear  their 
cries,  and  see  their  looks  of  tenderness  at  each  other  upon  being 
separated. — Mothers  are  torn  from  their  daughters,  and  brothers 
from  brothers,  without  the  liberty  of  a  parting  embrace.  Their 
master's  name  is  now  marked  upon  their  breasts  with  a  red  hot 
iron.  But  let  us  pursue  them  into  a  sugar  field,  and  behold  a 

scene  still  more  affecting  than  this See!  the  poor  wretches 

with  what  reluctance  they  take  their  instruments  of  labor  into 
their  hands. — Some  of  them,  overcome  with  heat  and  sickness, 

seek  to  refresh  themselves  by  a  little  rest, But,  behold  an 

overseer  approaches  them. — In  vain  they  sue  for  pity. He 

lifts  up  his  whip,  while  streams  of  blood  follow  every  stroke. 
Neither  age  nor  sex  are  spared. — Methinks  one  of  them  is  a 
woman  far  advanced  in  her  pregnancy. — At  a  little  distance 
from  these  behold  a  man,  who  from  his  countenance  and  de- 
portment appears  as  if  he  was  descended  from  illustrious  an- 
cestors.  Yes. — He  is  the  son  of  a  prince,  and  was  torn,  by  a 

stratagem,  from  an  amiable  wife  and  two  young  children — 
Mark  his  sullen  looks! — now  he  bids  defiance  to  the  tyranny 
of  his  master,  and  in  an  instant  plunges  a  knife  into  his  heart. — 
But,  let  us  return  from  this  Scene,  and  see  the  various  modes 
of  arbitrary  punishments  inflicted  upon  them  by  their  masters. 
Behold  one  covered  with  stripes,  into  which  melted  wax  is 
poured — another  tied  down  to  a  block  or  a  stake — a  third  sus- 
pended in  the  air  by  his  thumbs — a  fourth  obliged  to  set  or  stand 

upon  red  hot  iron a  fifth, 1  cannot  relate  it. 

Where  now  is  law  or  justice? Let  us  fly  to  them  to  step  in 


i6        SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

for  their  relief. Alas! The  one  is  silent,  and  the  other 

denounces  more  terrible  punishments  upon  them.  Let  us  attend 
the  place  appointed  for  inflicting  the  penalties  of  the  law.  See 
here  one  without  a  limb,  whose  only  crime  was  an  attempt  to 
regain  his  liberty — another  led  to  a  gallows  for  eating  a  morsel 
of  bread,  to  which  his  labor  gave  him  a  better  title  than  his 

master — a  third  famishing  on  a  gibbet a  fourth,  in  a  flame 

of  fire! — his  shrieks  pierce  the  heavens. O!  God!  Where 

is  thy  vengeance ! O !  humanity — j ustice — liberty — reli- 
gion!  Where, — where  are  ye  fled.- 


This  is  no  exaggerated  picture.  It  is  taken  from  real  life. 

Before  I  conclude  I  shall  take  the  liberty  of  addressing  several 
classes  of  my  countrymen  in  behalf  of  our  brethren  (for  by  that 
name  may  we  now  call  them)  who  are  in  a  state  of  slavery 
among  us. 

In  the  first  place  let  MAGISTRATES  both  supreme  and  inferior, 
exert  the  authority  they  are  invested  with,  in  suppressing  this 
evil.  Let  them  discountenance  it  by  their  example,  and  show  a 
readiness  to  concur  in  every  measure  proposed  to  remedy  it. 

Let  LEGISLATORS,  reflect  upon  the  trust  reposed  in  them.  Let 
their  laws  be  made  after  the  spirit  of  religion — liberty — and  our 
most  excellent  English  Constitution.  You  cannot  show  your 
attachment  to  your  King  or  your  love  to  your  country  better 
than  by  suppressing  an  evil  which  endangers  the  dominions  of 
the  former,  and  will  in  time  destroy  the  liberty  of 'the  latter.* 
Population,  and  the  accession  of  strangers,  in  which  the  riches 
of  all  countries  consist,  can  only  flourish  in  proportion  as  slavery 
is  discouraged.  Extend  the  privileges  we  enjoy,  to  every  human 
creature  born  among  us,  and  let  not  the  journals  of  our  assemblies 

*  By  a  late  calculation,  it  appears  that  there  are  eight  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  Negro  slaves  in  the  British  colonies  and  islands.  From  the 
number  and  burden  of  ships  which  are  sent  from  England  to  Africa  for 
slaves,  we  can  with  a  good  deal  of  certainty,  conclude,  that  there  are  not 
less  than  one  hundred  thousand  of  them  imported  into  America  every 
year.  By  particular  enquiry  it  was  found,  that  one  hundred  and  four 
thousand  were  imported  in  the  year  1768. 

"In  moderate  governments,  it  is  a  point  of  the  highest  importance, 


ON  GOOD  GOVERNMENT  17 

be  disgraced  with  the  records  of  laws,  which  allow  exclusive 
privileges  to  men  of  one  color  in  preference  to  another.* 

Ye  men  of  sense  and  virtue Ye  advocates  for  Ameri- 
can liberty,  rouse  up  and  espouse  the  cause  of  humanity  and 
general  liberty.  Bear  a  testimony  against  a  vice  which  degrades 
human  nature,  and  dissolves  that  universal  tie  of  benevolence 
which  should  connect  all  the  children  of  men  together  in  one 

great  family. The  plant  of  liberty  is  of  so  tender  a  nature, 

that  it  cannot  thrive  long  in  the  neighbourhood  of  slavery.  Re- 
member the  eyes  of  all  Europe  are  fixed  upon  you,  to  preserve 
an  asylum  for  freedom  in  this  country,  after  the  last  pillars  of 
it  are  fallen  in  every  other  quarter  of  the  globe. 

But  chiefly ye  ministers  of  the  gospel,  whose  dominion 

over  the  principles  and  actions  of  men  is  so  universally  acknowl- 
edged and  felt, Ye  who  estimate  the  worth  of  your  fellow 

creatures  by  their  immortality,  and  therefore  must  look  upon  all 
mankind  as  equal; — let  your  zeal  keep  pace  with  your  oppor- 
tunities to  put  a  stop  to  slavery.  While  you  inforce  the  duties 
of  "tithe  and  cummin,"  neglect  not  the  weightier  laws  of  justice 
and  humanity.  Slavery  is  an  Hydra  sin,  and  includes  in  it  every 
violation  of  the  precepts  of  the  Law  and  the  Gospel.  In  vain  will 
you  command  your  flocks  to  offer  up  the  incense  of  faith  and 

that  there  should  not  be  a  great  number  of  slaves.  The  political  liberty 
of  those  states  adds  to  the  value  of  civil  liberty;  and  he  who  is  deprived 
of  the  latter,  is  also  deprived  of  the  former.  He  sees  the  happiness  of  a 
society,  of  which  he  is  not  so  much  as  a  member;  he  sees  the  security  of 
others  fenced  by  laws,  himself  without  so  much  protection.  He  sees  his 
master  has  a  soul,  that  can  enlarge  itself;  while  his  own  is  constrained  to 
submit  to  almost  continual  depression.  Nothing  more  assimilates  a  man 
to  a  beast,  than  living  among  freemen,  himself  a  slave.  Such  people  as 
these  are  the  natural  enemies  of  a  society,  and  their  number  must  be 
dangerous." 

Spirit  of  Laws,  Book  xv.  Chap.  12. 

*  The  alterations  in  the  laws  in  favour  of  Negroes,  should  be  gradual, 
— 'till  the  evil  habits  they  have  acquired  by  slavery,  are  eradicated.  There 
are  several  privileges,  however,  which  might  be  extended  to  them  imme- 
diately, without  the  least  risk  to  society,  in  particular  that  inestimable  one 
of  trial  by  juries. 


1 8         SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

charity,  while  they  continue  to  mingle  the  sweat  and  blood  of 

Negro  slaves  with  their  sacrifices. If  the  blood  of  Abel  cried 

aloud  for  vengeance; — If,  under  the  Jewish  dispensation,  cities 
of  refuge  could  not  screen  the  deliberate  murderer — if  even 
manslaughter  required  sacrifices  to  expiate  it, — and  if  a  single 
murder  so  seldom  escapes  with  impunity  in  any  civilized  coun- 
try, what  may  you  not  say  against  that  trade,  or  those  manu- 
factures— or  laws,*  which  destroy  the  lives  of  so  many  thousands 

of  our  fellow-creatures  every  year? If  in  the  Old  Testament 

"God  swears  by  his  holiness,  and  by  the  excellency  of  Jacob, 
that  the  earth  shall  tremble,  and  every  one  mourn  that  dwelleth 
therein  for  the  iniquity  of  those  who  oppress  the  poor  and  crush 
the  needy,"  "who  buy  the  poor  with  silver,  and  the  needy  with 
a  pair  of  shoes,"f  what  judgments  may  you  not  denounce  upon 
those  who  continue  to  perpetrate  these  crimes,  after  the  more 
full  discovery  wliich  God  has  made  of  the  law  of  equity  in  the 
New  Testament.  Put  them  in  mind  of  the  rod  which  was  held 
over  them  a  few  years  ago  in  the  Stamp  and  Revenue  Acts. 
Remember  that  national  crimes  require  national  punishments, 
and  without  declaring  what  punishment  awaits  this  evil,  you 
may  venture  to  assure  them,  that  it  cannot  pass  with  impunity, 
unless  God  shall  cease  to  be  just  or  merciful. 

*  "If  any  Negro  or  other  slave  under  punishment  by  his  master,  or 
his  order  for  running  away,  or  any  other  crimes  or  misdemeanors  towards 
his  said  master,  unfortunately  shall  suffer  in  life  or  member,  no  person 
whatever  shall  be  liable  to  any  fine;  But  if  any  man  shall  of  wantonness, 
or  only  of  bloody  mindedness,  or  cruel  intention,  wilfully  kill  a  Negro, 
or  other  slave  of  his  own,  he  shall  deliver  into  the  public  treasury  fifteen 
pounds  sterling,  and  not  be  liable  to  any  other  punishment,  or  forfeiture 
for  the  same." 

Laws  of  Barbadoes,  Act  329. 

t  Amos  iv.  i,  2. viii.  6,  7. 


A    PLAN     OF    A    PEACE-OFFICE 
FOR    THE     UNITED     STATES 


AMONG  THE  defects  which  have  been  pointed  out  in  the  Federal 
Constitution  by  its  antifederal  enemies,  it  is  much  to  be  lamented 
that  no  person  has  taken  notice  of  its  total  silence  upon  the 
subject  of  an  office  of  the  utmost  importance  to  the  welfare  of 
the  United  States,  that  is,  an  office  for  promoting  and  preserving 
perpetual  peace  in  our  country. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  no  objection  will  be  made  to  the  estab- 
lishment of  such  an  office,  while  we  are  engaged  in  a  war  with 
the  Indians,  for  as  the  War-Office  of  the  United  States  was 
established  in  the  time  of  peace,  it  is  equally  reasonable  that  a 
Peace-Office  should  be  established  in  the  time  of  ivar. 

The  plan  of  this  office  is  as  follows: 

I.  Let  a  Secretary  of  the  Peace  be  appointed  to  preside  in 
this  office,  who  shall  be  perfectly  free  from  all  the  present  ab- 
surd and  vulgar  European  prejudices  upon  the  subject  of  gov- 
ernment; let  him  be  a  genuine  republican  and  a  sincere  Christian, 
for  the  principles  of  republicanism  and  Christianity  are  no  less 
friendly  to  universal  and  perpetual  peace,  than  they  are  to  uni- 
versal and  equal  liberty. 

II.  Let  a  power  be  given  to  this  Secretary  to  establish  and 
maintain  free-schools  in  every  city,  village  and  township  of  the 
United  States;  and  let  him  be  made  responsible  for  the  talents, 
principles,  and  morals,  of  all  his  schoolmasters.  Let  the  youth 
of  our  country  be   carefully  instructed  in  reading,   writing, 

19 


20        SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

arithmetic,  and  in  the  doctrines  of  a  religion  of  some  kind:  the 
Christian  religion  should  be  preferred  to  all  others;  for  it  belongs 
to  this  religion  exclusively  to  teach  us  not  only  to  cultivate  peace 
with  men,  but  to  forgive,  nay  more — to  love  our  very  enemies. 
It  belongs  to  it  further  to  teach  us  that  the  Supreme  Being  alone 
possesses  a  power  to  take  away  human  life,  and  that  we  rebel 
against  his  laws,  whenever  we  undertake  to  execute  death  in  any 
way  whatever  upon  any  of  his  creatures. 

III.  Let  every  family  in  the  United  States  be  furnished  at 
the  public  expense,  by  the  Secretary  of  this  office,  with  a  copy 
of  an  American  edition  of  the  BIBLE.  This  measure  has  become 
the  more  necessary  in  our  country,  since  the  banishment  of  the 
bible,  as  a  school-book,  from  most  of  the  schools  in  the  United 
States.  Unless  the  price  of  this  book  be  paid  for  by  the  public, 
there  is  reason  to  fear  that  in  a  few  years  it  will  t>e  met  with 
only  in  courts  of  justice  or  in  magistrates'  offices;  and  should 
the  absurd  mode  of  establishing  truth  by  kissing  this  sacred  book 
fall  into  disuse,  it  may  probably,  in  the  course  of  the  next 
generation,  be  seen  only  as  a  curiosity  on  a  shelf  in  a  public 
museum. 

IV.  Let  the  following  sentence  be  inscribed  in  letters  of  gold 
over  the  doors  of  every  State  and  Court  house  in  the  United 
States. 

THE  SON  OF  MAN  CAME  INTO  THE  WORLD,  NOT  TO  DESTROY 
MEN'S  LIVES,   BUT  TO  SAVE  THEM. 

V.  To  inspire  a  veneration  for  human  life,  and  an  horror 
at  the  shedding  of  human  blood,  let  all  those  laws  be  repealed 
which  authorise  juries,  judges,  sheriffs,  or  hangmen  to  assume 
the  resentments  of  individuals  and  to  commit  murder  in  cold 
blood  in  any  case  whatever.  Until  this  reformation  in  our  code 
of  penal  jurisprudence  takes  place,  it  will  be  in  vain  to  attempt 
to  introduce  universal  and  perpetual  peace  in  our  country. 

VI.  To  subdue  that  passion  for  war,  which  education,  added 
to  human  depravity,  have  made  universal,  a  familiarity  with  the 


ON  GOOD  GOVERNMENT  21 

I 

instruments  of  death,  as  well  as  all  military  shows,  should  be 
carefully  avoided.  For  which  reason,  militia  laws  should  every 
where  be  repealed,  and  military  dresses  and  military  titles  should 
be  laid  aside:  reviews  tend  to  lessen  the  horrors  of  a  battle  by 
connecting  them  with  the  charms  of  order;  militia  laws  generate 
idleness  and  vice,  and  thereby  produce  the  wars  they  are  said 
to  prevent;  military  dresses  fascinate  the  minds  of  young  men, 
and  lead  them  from  serious  and  useful  professions;  were  there 
no  imiforms,  there  would  probably  be  no  armies;  lastly,  military 
titles  feed  vanity,  and  keep  up  ideas  in  the  mind  which  lessen 
a  sense  of  the  folly  and  miseries  of  war. 

VII.  In  the  last  place,  let  a  large  room,  adjoining  the  federal 
hall,  be  appropriated  for  transacting  the  business  and  preserving 
all  the  records  of  this  office.  Over  the  door  of  this  room  let  there 
be  a  sign,  on  which  the  figures  of  a  LAMB,  a  DOVE  and  an  OLIVE 
BRANCH  should  be  painted,  together  with  the  following  inscrip- 
tions in  letters  of  gold: 

PEACE    ON    EARTH — GOOD-WILL    TO   MAN. 
AH!    WHY  WILL  MEN  FORGET  THAT  THEY  ARE 
BRETHREN? 

Within  this  apartment  let  there  be  a  collection  of  plough- 
shares and  pruning-hooks  made  out  of  swords  and  speaks;  and 
on  each  of  the  walls  of  the  apartment,  the  following  pictures 
as  large  as  the  life: 

1.  A  lion  eating  straw  with  an  ox,  and  an  adder  playing 
upon  the  lips  of  a  child. 

2.  An  Indian  boiling  his  venison  in  the  same  pot  with  a  citizen 
of  Kentucky. 

3.  Lord  Cornwallis  and  Tippoo  Saib,  under  the  shade  of  a 
sycamore-tree  in  the  East  Indies,  drinking  Madeira  wine  together 
out  of  the  same  decanter. 

4.  A  group  of  French  and  Austrian  soldiers  dancing  arm  and 
arm,  under  a  bower  erected  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Mons. 


22         SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

5.  A  St.  Domingo  planter,  a  man  of  color,  and  a  native  of 
Africa,  legislating  together  in  the  same  colonial  assembly.* 

To  complete  the  entertainment  of  this  delightful  apartment, 
let  a  group  of  young  ladies,  clad  in  white  robes,  assemble  every 
day  at  a  certain  hour,  in  a  gallery  to  be  erected  for  the  purpose, 
and  sing  odes,  and  hymns,  and  anthems  in  praise  of  the  blessings 
of  peace. 

One  of  these  songs  should  consist  of  the  following  lines. 

Peace  o'er  the  world  her  olive  wand  extends, 
And  white-rob'd  innocence  from  heaven  descends; 
All  crimes  shall  cease,  and  ancient  frauds  shall  fail, 
Returning  justice  lifts  aloft  her  scale. 

In  order  more  deeply  to  affect  the  minds  of  the  citizens  of 
the  United  States  with  the  blessings  of  peace,  by  contrasting 
them  with  the  evils  of  war,  let  the  following  inscriptions  be 
painted  upon  the  sign,  which  is  placed  over  the  door  of  the  War 
Office. 

1.  An  office  for  butchering  the  human  species. 

2.  A  Widow  and  Orphan  making  office. 

3.  A  broken  bone  making  office. 

4.  A  Wooden  leg  making  office. 

5.  An  office  for  creating  public  and  private  vices. 

6.  An  office  for  creating  a  public  debt. 

7.  An  office  for  creating  speculators,   stock  jobbers,  and 
bankrupts. 

8.  An  office  for  creating  famine. 

9.  An  office  for  creating  pestilential  diseases. 

10.  An  office  for  creating  poverty,  and  the  destruction  of 
liberty,  and  national  happiness. 

In  the  lobby  of  this  office  let  there  be  painted  representations 

*  At  the  time  of  writing  this,  there  existed  wars  between  the  United 
States  and  the  American  Indians,  between  the  British  nation  and  Tippoo 
Saib,  between  the  planters  of  St  Domingo  and  their  African  slaves,  and 
between  the  French  nation  and  the  emperor  of  Germany. 


ON  GOOD  GOVERNMENT  23 

of  all  the  common  military  instruments  of  death,  also  human 
skulls,  broken  bones,  unburied  and  putrefying  dead  bodies,  hos- 
pitals crowded  with  sick  and  wounded  soldiers,  villages  on  fire, 
mothers  in  besieged  towns  eating  the  flesh  of  their  children,  ships 
sinking  in  the  ocean,  rivers  dyed  with  blood,  and  extensive  plains 
without  a  tree  or  fence,  or  any  other  object,  but  the  ruins  of 
deserted  farm  houses. 

Above  this  group  of  woeful  figures, — let  the  following  words 
be  inserted,  in  red  characters  to  represent  human  blood, 


'NATIONAL  GLORY." 


ON    HELPING    THE     AFRICANS 

From  a  Letter  to  Granville  Sharp 


SINCE  OUR  correspondence  began,  in  the  year  1771,  what  wonder- 
ful things  have  come  to  pass  in  favor  of  our  friends  the  poor 
Africans! — In  Pennsylvania  our  laws  have  exterminated  domestic 
Slavery,  and  in  Philadelphia  the  free  blacks  now  compose  near 
3,000  souls.  Their  men  are  chiefly  waiters — day-labourers — and 
traders  in  a  small  way.  Their  women  are  chiefly  cooks  and 
washer-women.  Such  is  their  integrity,  and  quiet  deportment, 
that  they  are  universally  preferred  to  white  people  of  similar 
occupations.  But  under  these  circumstances  they  are  still  in  a 
state  of  depression,  arising  chiefly  from  their  being  deprived  of 
the  means  of  regular  education,  and  religious  instruction.  To 
remedy  these  inconveniences,  a  few  gentlemen  in  this  city  have 
assisted  in  forming  them  into  a  church,  to  be  called  The  African 
Church  of  Philadelphia.  As  they  consist  of  the  scattered  ap- 
pendages of  most  of  the  churches  in  the  city,  they  have  formed 
articles  and  a  plan  of  church  government  so  general  as  to  em- 
brace all,  and  yet  so  orthodox  in  cardinal  points  as  to  offend  none. 
They  have  already  been  assisted  in  purchasing  a  valuable  lot,  in 
a  centrical  part  of  our  city,  on  which  they  propose  this  fall  to 
build  a  frame  school-house,  and  in  the  spring  (if  they  are  further 
assisted)  they  wish  to  erect  a  plain  brick  church.  They  have 
already  began  to  worship  God  in  a  borrowed  school-house,  where 
they  assemble  on  Sundays.  Two  or  three  of  their  own  colour 
conduct  the  worship,  by  reading  the  Scriptures,  praying,  singing, 
and  occasionally  exhorting.  Hereafter  they  propose  to  have  a 


ON  GOOD  GOVERNMENT  25 

regular  minister: — in  the  meanwhile,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Pilmore,  a 
worthy  episcopal  minister  of  this  city,  has  promised  to  officiate 
for  them  occasionally.  Much  good  may  be  expected  from  this 
institution.  Indeed  much  good  has  already  arisen  from  it;  for  it 
has  produced  a  degree  of  order,  and  a  spirit  of  inquiry  and 
thoughtfulness  in  religion  never  evinced  by  them  before. 

I  come  now  to  the  design  of  this  long  letter,  which  is  to  solicit 
your  influence,  among  the  friends  of  the  Blacks  in  London,  in 
obtaining  a  small  contribution  towards  building  the  proposed 
African  Church  in  our  city.  It  may  produce  consequences  far 
beyond  our  present  expectations,  or  even  comprehensions. 

It  is  true  the  Blacks  are  not  of  your  country.  But  what  then? 
You  have  pleaded  the  cause  of  the  Africans  in  their  native  coun- 
try.— By  helping  them  here,  you  will  only  change  the  place,  but 
not  the  objects  of  your  benevolence.  The  favor  I  now  solicit 
for  them  is  more  substantial  than  even  freedom  itself.  It  will 
place  them  in  a  condition  to  make  their  freedom  a  blessing  to 
them  here,  and  prepare  them  for  happiness  beyond  the  grave. 

In  spreading  the  blessings  of  liberty,  and  religion,  our  Divine 
Master  forbids  us,  in  many  of  his  parables  and  precepts,  to  have 
either  friends  or  country.  The  globe  is  the  native  country,  and 
the  whole  human  race,  the  fellow-citizens  of  a  Christian.  This 
sentiment,  I  am  sure,  will  accord  with  the  feelings  of  your  heart 
—for  you  have  long  exemplified  it  by  your  life  and  conversation. 

From,  my  dear  friend, 

Your  affectionate  fellow-labourer, 

And  sincere  friend  and  servant, 

BENJAMIN  RUSH. 


ON  THE  DEFECTS  OF  THE 
CONFEDERATION 


THERE  is  nothing  more  common  than  to  confound  the  terms  of 

the  American  Revolution  with  those  of  the  late  American  War. 

% 

The  American  War  is  over:  but  this  is  far  from  being  the  case 
with  the  American  Revolution.  On  the  contrary,  nothing  but 
the  first  act  of  the  great  drama  is  closed.  It  remains  yet  to  estab- 
lish and  perfect  our  new  forms  of  government;  and  to  prepare 
the  principles,  morals,  and  manners  of  our  citizens,  for  these 
forms  of  government,  after  they  are  established  and  brought  to 
perfection. 

The  Confederation,  together  with  most  of  our  state  constitu- 
tions, were  formed  under  very  unfavorable  circumstances.  We 
had  just  emerged  from  a  corrupted  monarchy.  Although  we  un- 
derstood perfectly  the  principles  of  liberty,  yet  most  of  us  were 
ignorant  of  the  forms  and  combinations  of  power  in  republics. 
Add  to  this,  the  British  army  was  in  the  heart  of  our  country, 
spreading  desolation  wherever  it  went:  our  resentments,  of 
course,  were  awakened.  We  detested  the  British  name,  and 
unfortunately  refused  to  copy  some  things  in  the  administration 
of  justice  and  power,  in  the  British  government,  which  have 
made  it  the  admiration  and  envy  of  the  world.  In  our  opposition 
to  monarchy,  we  forgot  that  the  temple  of  tyranny  has  two 
doors.  We  bolted  one  of  them  by  proper  restraints:  but  we  left 
the  other  open,  by  neglecting  to  guard  against  the  effects  of  our 
own  ignorance  and  licentiousness. 

26 


ON  GOOD  GOVERNMENT  27 

Most  of  the  present  difficulties  of  this  country  arise  from 
the  weakness  and  other  defects  of  our  governments. 

My  business  at  present  shall  be  only  to  suggest  the  defects 
of  the  Confederation.  These  consist,  ist,  In  the  deficiency  of 
coercive  power,  zd,  In  a  defect  of  exclusive  power  to  issue  paper 
money,  and  regulate  commerce.  3d,  In  vesting  the  sovereign 
power  of  the  United  States  in  a  single  legislature:  and  4th,  In 
the  too  frequent  rotation  of  its  members. 

A  convention  is  to  sit  soon  *  for  the  purpose  of  devising 
means  of  obviating  part  of  the  two  first  defects  that  have  been 
mentioned.  But  I  wish  they  may  add  to  their  recommendations 
to  each  state,  to  surrender  up  to  Congress  their  power  of  emit- 
ting money.  In  this  way,  uniform  currency  will  be  produced, 
that  will  facilitate  trade,  and  help  to  bind  the  states  together. 
Nor  will  the  states  be  deprived  of  large  sums  of  money  by  this 
means  when  sudden  emergencies  require  it:  for  they  may  always 
borrow  them  as  they  did  during  the  war,  out  of  the  treasury 
of  Congress.  Even  a  loan-office  may  be  better  instituted  in  this 
way  in  each  state,  than  in  any  other. 

The  two  last  defects  that  have  been  mentioned,  are  not 
of  less  magnitude  than  the  first.  Indeed,  the  single  legislature 
of  Congress  will  become  more  dangerous  from  an  increase  of 
power  than  ever.  To  remedy  this,  let  the  supreme  federal  power 
be  divided,  like  the  legislatures  of  most  of  our  states,  into  two  dis- 
tinct, independent  branches.  Let  one  of  them  be  styled  the 
Council  of  the  States,  and  the  other  the  Assembly  of  the  States. 
Let  the  first  consist  of  a  single  delegate, — and  the  second,  of 
two,  three,  or  four  delegates,  chosen  annually  by  each  state. 
Let  the  president  be  chosen  annually  by  the  joint  ballots  of 
both  houses,  and  let  him  possess  certain  powers  in  conjunction 
with  a  privy  council,  especially  the  power  of  appointing  most 
of  the  officers  of  the  United  States.  The  officers  will  not  only 
be  better  when  appointed  this  way,  but  one  of  the  principal 
causes  of  faction  will  be  thereby  removed  from  congress.  I 

*  May  1787,  in  Philadelphia. 


28         SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

apprehend  this  division  of  the  power  of  Congress  will  become 
more  necessary,  as  soon  as  they  are  invested  with  more  ample 
powers  of  levying  and  expending  public  money. 

The  custom  of  turning  men  out  of  power  or  office,  as  soon 
as  they  are  qualified  for  it,  has  been  found  to  be  as  absurd  in 
practice,  as  it  is  virtuous  in  speculation.  It  contradicts  our  habits 
and  opinions  in  every  other  transaction  of  life.  Do  we  dismiss  a 
general — a  physician — or  even  a  domestic  as  soon  as  they  have 
acquired  knowledge  enough  to  be  useful  to  us,  for  the  sake  of 
increasing  the  number  of  able  generals — skilful  physicians — and 
faithful  servants?  We  do  not.  Government  is  a  science;  and  can 
never  be  perfected  in  America,  until  we  encourage  men  to  de- 
vote not  only  three  years,  but  their  whole  lives  to  it.  I  believe 
the  principal  reason  why  so  many  men  of  abilities  object  to 
serving  in  Congress,  is  owing  to  their  not  thinking  it  worth 
while  to  spend  three  years  in  acquiring  a  profession  which 
their  country  immediately  afterwards  forbids  them  to  fol- 
low. 

There  are  two  errors  or  prejudices  on  the  subject  of  govern- 
ment in  America,  which  lead  to  the  most  dangerous  conse- 
quences. 

It  is  often  said  that  "the  sovereign  and  all  other  power  is 
seated  in  the  people."  This  idea  is  unhappily  expressed.  It  should 
be — "all  power  is  derived  from  the  people."  They  possess  it 
only  on  the  days  of  their  elections.  After  this,  it  is  the  property 
of  thek  rulers,  nor  can  they  exercise  or  resume  it,  unless  it  is 
abused.  It  is  of  importance  to  circulate  this  idea,  as  it  leads  to 
order  and  good  government. 

The  people  of  America  have  mistaken  the  meaning  of  the 
word  sovereignty:  hence  each  state  pretends  to  be  sovereign. 
In  Europe  it  is  applied  only  to  those  states  which  possess  the 
power  of  making  war  and  peace — of  forming  treaties,  and  the 
like.  As  this  power  belongs  only  to  Congress,  they  are  the  only 
sovereign  power  in  the  United  States. 

We  commit  a  similar  mistake  in  our  ideas  of  the  word  in- 
dependent.— No  individual  state  as  such  has  any  claim  to  inde- 


ON  GOOD  GOVERNMENT  29 

pendence.  She  is  independerjt  only  in  a  union  with  her  sister 
states  in  Congress. 

To  conform  the  principles,  morals,  and  manners  of  our  citi- 
zens to  our  republican  forms  of  government,  it  is  absolutely 
necessary  that  knowledge  of  every  kind,  should  be  disseminated 
through  every  part  of  the  United  States. 

For  this  purpose,  let  Congress,  instead  of  laying  out  half  a 
million  of  dollars  in  building  a  federal  town,  appropriate  only  a 
fourth  part  of  that  sum,  in  founding  a  federal  university.  In  this 
university,  let  every  thing  connected  with  government,  such  as 
history — the  law  of  nature  and  nations — the  civil  law — the  mu- 
nicipal laws  of  our  country — and  the  principles  of  commerce,  be 
taught  by  competent  professors.  Let  masters  be  employed  like- 
wise to  teach  gunnery — fortification — and  every  thing  con- 
nected with  defensive  and  offensive  war. — Above  all,  let  a  pro- 
fessor, of  what  is  called  in  the  European  universities,  economy, 
be  established  in  this  federal  seminary.  His  business  should  be 
to  unfold  the  principles  and  practice  of  agriculture  and  manu- 
factures of  all  kinds;  and  to  enable  him  to  make  his  lectures 
more  extensively  useful,  Congress  should  support  a  travelling 
correspondent  for  him,  who  should  visit  all  the  nations  of  Europe, 
and  transmit  to  him,  from  time  to  time,  all  the  discoveries  and 
improvements  that  are  made  in  agriculture  and  manufactures.  To 
this  seminary  young  men  should  be  encouraged  to  repair,  after 
completing  their  academical  studies  in  the  colleges  of  their  re- 
spective states.  The  honors  and  offices  of  the  United  States 
should,  after  a  while,  be  confined  to  persons  who  had  imbibed 
federal  and  republican  ideas  in  this  university. 

For  the  purpose  of  diffusing  knowledge,  as  well  as  extend- 
ing the  living  principle  of  government  to  every  part  of  the 
United  States;  every  state — city — county — village — and  town- 
ship in  the  union,  should  be  tied  together  by  means  of  the  post- 
office. — This  is  the  true  non-electric  wire  of  government.  It  is 
the  only  means  of  conveying  heat  and  light  to  every  individual 
in  the  federal  commonwealth.  Sweden  lost  her  liberties,  says  the 
Abbe  Raynal,  because  her  citizens  were  so  scattered,  that  they 


3o         SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

had  no  means  of  acting  in  concert  with  each  other.  It  should 
be  a  constant  injunction  to  the  postmasters  to  convey  newspapers 
free  of  all  charge  for  postage. — They  are  not  only  the  vehicles 
of  knowledge  and  intelligence,  but  the  sentinels  of  the  liberties 
of  our  country. 

The  conduct  of  some  of  those  strangers  who  have  visited 
our  country,  since  the  peace,  and  who  fill  the  British  papers 
with  accounts  of  our  distresses,  shows  as  great  a  want  of  good 
sense,  as  it  does  of  good  nature.  They  fear  nothing;  but  the 
foundations  and  walls  of  the  temple  of  liberty,  and  yet  they 
undertake  to  judge  of  the  whole  fabric. 

Our  own  citizens  act  a  still  more  absurd  part,  when  they 
cry  out,  after  the  experience  of  three  or  four  years,  that  we 
are  not  proper  materials  for  republican  government.  Remem- 
ber, we  assumed  these  forms  of  government  in  a  hurry,  before 
we  were  prepared  for  them.  Let  every  man  exert  himself  in 
promoting  virtue  and  knowledge  in  our  country,  and  we  shall 
soon  become  good  republicans.  Look  at  the  steps  by  which 
governments  have  been  changed  or  rendered  stable  in  Europe. 
Read  the  history  of  Great  Britain.  Her  boasted  government  has 
risen  out  of  wars — and  rebellions  that  lasted  above  sixty  years. 
The  United  States  are  travelling  peaceably  into  order  and  good 
government.  They  know  no  strife — but  what  arises  from  the 
collision  of  opinions:  and  in  three  years,  they  have  advanced 
further  in  the  road  to  stability  and  happiness,  than  most  of  the 
nations  in  Europe  have  done,  in  as  many  centuries. 

There  is  but  one  path  that  can  lead  the  United  States  to 
destruction,  and  that  is  their  extent  of  territory.  It  was  probably 
to  effect  this,  that  Great  Britain  ceded  to  us  so  much  waste  land. 
But  even  this  path  may  be  avoided.  Let  but  one  new  state  be 
exposed  to  sale  at  a  time;  and  let  the  land  office  be  shut  up  till 
every  part  of  this  new  state  is  settled. 

I  am  extremely  sorry  to  find  a  passion  for  retirement  so  uni- 
versal among  the  patriots  and  heroes  of  the  war.  They  resemble 
skilful  mariners,  who,  after  exerting  themselves  to  preserve  a 
ship  from  sinking  in  a  storm,  in  the  middle  of  the  ocean,  drop 


ON  GOOD  GOVERNMENT  31 

asleep  as  soon  as  the  waves  subside,  and  leave  the  care  of  their 
lives  and  property,  during  the  remainder  of  the  voyage  to  sailors 
without  knowledge  or  experience.  Every  man  in  a  republic  is 
public  property.  His  time  and  talents — his  youth — his  manhood 
— his  old  age — nay  more,  life,  all,  belong  to  his  country. 

Patriots  of  1774,  1775,  1776* — heroes  of  1778,  1779,  1780! 
come  forward!  your  country  demands  your  services. — Philoso- 
phers and  friends  to  mankind,  come  forward!  your  country 
demands  your  studies  and  speculations!  Lovers  of  peace  and 
order,  who  declined  taking  part  in  the  late  war,  come  forward! 
your  country  forgives  your  timidity,  and  demands  your  influ- 
ence and  advice! — Hear  her  proclaiming  in  sighs  and  groans, 
in  her  governments,  in  her  finances,  in  her  trade,  in  her  manu- 
factures, in  her  morals,  and  in  her  manners,  "The  revolution  is 
not  over!" 


ON     SECURITIES     FOR    LIBERTY 

Letter  from  Dr.  Rush,  to  Dr.  Ramsay 


DEAR  SIR, 

I  presume,  before  this  time,  you  have  heard,  and  rejoiced 
in  the  auspicious  event  of  the  ratification  of  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment by  six  of  the  United  States. 

The  objections,  which  have  been  urged  against  the  Federal 
Constitution,  from  its  wanting  a  Bill  of  Rights,  have  been 
reasoned  and  ridiculed  out  of  credit  in  every  state  that  has 
adopted  it.  There  can  be  only  two  securities  for  liberty  in  any 
government,  viz.  representation  and  checks.  By  the  first,  the 
rights  of  the  people,  and  by  the  second,  the  rights  of  representa- 
tion are  effectually  secured.  Every  part  of  a  free  constitution 
hangs  upon  these  two  points;  and  these  form  the  two  capital 
features  of  the  proposed  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  With- 
out them,  a  volume  of  rights  would  avail  nothing;  and  with  them, 
a  declaration  of  rights  is  absurd  and  unnecessary:  for  the  people, 
where  their  liberties  are  committed  to  an  equal  representation, 
and  to  a  compound  legislature,  such  as  we  observe  in  the  new  gov- 
ernment, will  always  be  the  sovereigns  of  their  rulers,  and  hold  all 
their  rights  in  their  own  hands.  To  hold  them  at  the  mercy  of 
their  servants,  is  disgraceful  to  the  dignity  of  freemen.  Men,  who 
call  for  a  Bill  of  Rights,  have  not  recovered  from  the  habits  they 
acquired  under  the  monarchical  government  of  Great  Britain. 

I  have  the  same  opinion  with  the  Antif  ederalists,  of  the  danger 
of  trusting  arbitrary  power  to  any  single  body  of  men:  but  no 
such  power  will  be  committed  to  our  new  rulers.  Neither  the 

3* 


ON  GOOD  GOVERNMENT  33 

House  of  Representatives,  the  Senate,  or  the  President,  can  per- 
form a  single  legislative  act  by  themselves.  An  hundred  principles 
in  man  will  lead  them  to  watch,  to  check,  and  to  oppose  each 
other,  should  an  attempt  be  made  by  either  of  them  upon  the 
liberties  of  the  people.  If  we  may  judge  of  their  conduct,  by  what 
we  have  so  often  observed  in  all  the  state-governments,  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Federal  legislature  will  much  oftener  injure  their 
constituents,  by  voting  agreeably  to  their  inclinations,  than 
against  them. 

But  are  we  to  consider  men  entrusted  with  power,  as  the 
receptacles  of  all  the  depravity  of  human  nature?  by  no  means. 
The  people  do  not  part  with  their  full  proportions  of  it.  Reason 
and  revelation  both  deceive  us,  if  they  are  all  wise  and  virtuous. 
Is  not  history  as  full  of  the  vices  of  the  people,  as  it  is  of  the 
cymes  of  the  kings?  what  is  the  present  moral  character  of  the 
citizens  of  the  United  States?  I  need  not  describe  it.  It  proves 
too  plainly  that  the  people  are  as  much  disposed  to  vice  as  their 
rulers;  and  that  nothing  but  a  vigorous  and  efficient  government 
can  prevent  their  degenerating  into  savages,  or  devouring  each 
other  like  beasts  of  prey. 

A  simple  democracy  has  been  very  aptly  compared  by  Mr. 
Ames,  of  Massachusetts,  to  a  volcano  that  contained  within  its 
bowels  the  fiery  materials  of  its  own  destruction.  A  citizen  of 
one  of  the  cantons  of  Switzerland,  in  the  year  1776,  refused  in 
my  presence  to  drink  "the  commonwealth  of  America"  as  a  toast, 
and  gave  as  a  reason  for  it,  "that  a  simple  democracy  was  the 
devil's  own  government."  The  experience  of  the  American  states, 
under  the  present  Confederation,  has,  in  too  many  instances, 
justified  these  two  accounts  of  a  simple  popular  government. 

It  would  have  been  a  truth,  if  Mr.  Locke  had  not  said  it,  that 
where  there  is  no  law,  there  can  be  no  liberty;  and  nothing  de- 
serves the  name  of  law  but  that  which  is  certain,  and  universal 
in  its  operation,  upon  all  the  members  of  the  community. 

To  look  up  to  a  government  that  establishes  justice,  insures 
order,  cherishes  virtue,  secures  property,  and  protects  from  every 
species  of  violence,  affords  a  pleasure  that  can  only  be  exceeded 


34        SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

by  looking  up,  in  all  circumstances,  to  an  over-ruling  Providence. 
Such  a  pleasure,  I  hope,  is  before  us  and  our  posterity,  under 
the  influence  of  the  new  government. 

The  dimensions  of  the  human  mind  are  apt  to  be  regulated 
by  the  extent  and  objects  of  the  government  under  which  it  is 
formed.  Think  then,  my  friend,  of  the  expansion  and  dignity  the 
American  mind  will  acquire,  by  having  its  powers  transferred 
from  the  contracted  objects  of  a  state,  to  the  more  unbounded 
objects  of  a  national  government? — A  citizen  and  a  legislator  of 
the  free  and  United  States  of  America,  will  be  one  of  the  first 
characters  in  the  world. 

I  would  not  have  you  suppose,  after  what  I  have  written, 
that  I  believe  the  new  government  to  be  without  fault.  I  can  see 
them — yet  not  in  any  of  the  writings  or  speeches  of  the  persons 
who  are  opposed  to  it.  But  who  ever  saw  any  thing  perfect  come 
from  the  hands  of  man?  it  realises,  notwithstanding,  in  a  great 
degree,  every  wish  I  ever  entertained,  in  every  stage  of  the  Revo- 
lution, for  the  happiness  of  my  country;  for  you  know,  that  I 
have  acquired  no  new  opinions  or  principles,  upon  the  subject 
of  republics,  by  the  sorrowful  events  we  have  lately  witnessed 
in  America.  In  the  year  1776,  I  lost  the  confidence  of  the  people 
of  Pennsylvania,  by  openly  exposing  the  dangers  of  a  simple 
democracy,  and  declaring  myself  an  advocate  for  a  government 
composed  of  three  legislative  branches. 


ON     PUNISHING     MURDER     BY 
DEATH 


IN  AN  ESSAY  upon  the  effects  of  public  punishments  upon  crimi- 
nals and  upon  society,  published  in  the  second  volume  of  the 
American  Museitm,  I  hinted,  in  a  short  paragraph,  at  the  injustice 
of  punishing  murder  by  death.  I  shall  attempt  in  the  following 
essay,  to  support  that  opinion,  and  to  answer  all  the  objections 
that  have  been  urged  against  it. 

I.  Every  man  possesses  an  absolute  power  over  his  own  lib- 
erty and  property,  but  not  over  his  own  life.  When  he  becomes 
a  member  of  political  society,  he  commits  the  disposal  of  his 
liberty  and  property  to  his  fellow  citizens;  but  as  he  has  no  right 
to  dispose  of  his  life,  he  cannot  commit  the  power  over  it  to  any 
body  of  men.  To  take  away  life,  therefore,  for  any  crime,  is  a 
violation  of  the  first  political  compact. 

II.  The  punishment  of  murder  by  death,  is  contrary  to  reason, 
and  to  the  order  and  happiness  of  society. 

1.  It  lessens  the  horror  of  taking  away  human  life,  and 
thereby  tends  to  multiply  murders. 

2.  It  produces  murder,  by  its  influence  upon  people  who  are 
tired  of  life,  and  who,  from  a  supposition,  that  murder  is  a  less 
crime  than  suicide,  destroy  a  life  (and  often  that  of  a  near  con- 
nexion)  and  afterwards  deliver  themselves  up  to  justice,  that 
they  may  escape  from  their  misery  by  means  of  a  halter. 

3.  The  punishment  of  murder  by  death,  multiplies  murders, 
from  the  difficulty  it  creates  of  convicting  persons  who  are  guilty 
of  it.  Humanity,  revolting  at  the  idea  of  the  severity  and  certainty 

35 


36        SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

of  a  capital  punishment,  often  steps  in,  and  collects  such  evidence 
in  favour  of  a  murderer,  as  screens  him  from  justice  altogether, 
or  palliates  his  crime  into  manslaughter.  If  the  punishment  of 
murder  consisted  in  long  confinement,  and  hard  labor,  it  would 
be  proportioned  by  the  measure  of  our  feelings  of  justice,  and 
every  member  of  society  would  be  a  watchman  or  a  magistrate, 
to  apprehend  a  destroyer  of  human  life,  and  to  bring  him  to 
punishment. 

4.  The  punishment  of  murder  by  death,  checks  the  opera- 
tions of  universal  justice,  by  preventing  the  punishment  of  every 
species  of  murder.  Quack  doctors — frauds  of  various  kinds — and 
a  licentious  press,  often  destroy  life,  and  sometimes  with  malice 
of  the  most  propense  nature.  If  murder  were  punished  by  con- 
finement and  hard  labour,  the  authors  of  the  numerous  murders 
that  have  been  mentioned,  would  be  dragged  forth,  and  punished 
according  to  their  deserts.  How  much  order  and  happiness  would 
arise  to  society  from  such  a  change  in  human  affairs!  But  who 
will  attempt  to  define  these  species  of  murder,  or  to  prosecute 
offenders  of  this  stamp,  if  death  is  to  be  the  punishment  of  the 
crime  after  it  is  admitted,  and  proved  to  be  wilful  murder? — 
only  alter  the  punishment  of  murder,  and  these  crimes  will  soon 
assume  their  proper  names,  and  probably  soon  become  as  rare 
as  murder  from  common  acts  of  violence. 

5.  The  punishment  of  murder  by  death,  has  been  proved  to 
be  contrary  to  the  order  and  happiness  of  society  by  the  experi- 
ments of  some  of  the  wisest  legislators  in  Europe.  The  Empress 
of  Russia,  the  King  of  Sweden,  and  the  Duke  of  Tuscany,  have 
nearly  extirpated  murder  from  their  dominions,  by  converting 
its  punishment  into  the  means  of  benefiting  society,  and  reform- 
ing the  criminals  who  perpetrate  it. 

III.  The  punishment  of  murder  by  death,  is  contrary  to  divine 
revelation.  A  religion  which  commands  us  to  forgive  and  even 
to  do  good  to  our  enemies,  can  never  authorise  the  punishment 
of  murder  by  death.  "Vengeance  is  mine,"  said  the  Lord;  "I  will 
repay."  It  is  to  no  purpose  to  say  here,  that  this  vengeance  is 
taken  out  of  the  hands  of  an  individual,  and  directed  against  the 


ON  GOOD  GOVERNMENT  37 

criminal  by  the  hand  of  government.  It  is  equally  an  usurpation 
of  the  prerogative  of  heaven,  whether  it  be  inflicted  by  a  single 
person,  or  by  a  whole  community. 

Here  I  expect  to  meet  with  an  appeal  from  the  letter  and 
spirit  of  the  gospel,  to  the  law  of  Moses,  which  declares,  that 
"he  that  killeth  a  man  shall  surely  be  put  to  death."  Forgive, 
indulgent  heaven!  the  ignorance  and  cruelty  of  man,  which  by 
the  misapplication  of  this  text  of  scripture,  has  so  long  and  so 
often  stained  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  with  folly  and  revenge. 

The  following  considerations,  I  hope,  will  prove  that  no  argu- 
ment can  be  deduced  from  this  law,  to  justify  the  punishment 
of  murder  by  death.  On  the  contrary,  that  several  arguments 
against  it,  may  be  derived  from  a  just  and  rational  explanation 
of  that  part  of  the  levitical  institutions. 

1.  There  are  many  things  in  scripture  above,  but  nothing 
contrary  to  reason.  Now,  the  punishment  of  murder  by  death, 
is  contrary  to  reason.  It  cannot,  therefore,  be  agreeable  to  the 
will  of  God. 

2.  The  order  and  happiness  of  society  cannot  fail  of  being 
agreeable  to  the  will  of  God.  But  the  punishment  of  murder 
by  death,  destroys  the  order  and  happiness  of  society.  It  must 
therefore  be  contrary  to  the  will  of  God. 

3.  Many  of  the  laws  given  by  Moses,  were  accommodated 
to  the  ignorance  and  "hardness  of  heart"  of  the  ancient  Jews. 
Hence   their    divine   legislator   expressly   says,    "I   gave   them 
statutes  that  were  not  good,  and  judgments  whereby  they  should 
not  live"  Of  this,  the  law  which  respects  divorces,  and  the  law 
of  retaliation,  which  required  "an  eye  for  an  eye,  and  a  tooth 
for  a  tooth,"  are  remarkable  instances. 

But  we  are  told,  that  the  punishment  of  murder  by  death, 
is  founded  not  only  on  the  law  of  Moses,  but  upon  a  positive 
precept  given  to  Noah  and  his  posterity,  that  "whoso  sheddeth 
man's  blood,  by  man  shall  his  blood  be  shed."  In  order  to  show 
that  this  text  does  not  militate  against  my  proposition,  I  shall 
beg  leave  to  transcribe  a  passage  from  an  essay  on  crimes  and 
punishments,  published  by  the  Reverend  Mr.  Turner,  in  the 


38         SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

second  volume  of  the  Manchester  memoirs.  "I  hope,"  says  this 
ingenious  author,  "that  I  shall  not  offend  any  one,  by  taking  the 
liberty  to  put  my  own  sense  upon  this  celebrated  passage,  and 
to  inquire,  why  it  should  be  deemed  a  precept  at  all.  To  me, 
I  confess,  it  appears  to  contain  nothing  more  than  a  declaration 
of  what  will  generally  happen;  and  in  this  view,  to  stand  ex- 
actly upon  the  same  ground  with  such  passages  as  the  follow- 
ing: "He  that  leadeth  into  captivity  shall  go  into  captivity." 
"He  that  taketh  up  the  sword,  shall  perish  by  the  sword."  * — 
The  form  of  expression  is  exactly  the  same  in  each  of  the  texts; 
why,  then,  may  they  not  all  be  interpreted  in  the  same  manner, 
and  considered,  not  as  commands,  but  as  denunciations,  and  if 
so,  the  magistrate  will  be  no  more  bound  by  the  text  in  Genesis, 
to  punish  murder  with  death,  than  he  will  by  the  text  in  the 
Revelations,  to  sell  every  Guinea  captain  to  our  West  India 
planters;  and  yet,  however  just  and  proper  such  a  proceeding 
might  be,  I  suppose  no  one  will  assert  that  the  magistrate  is 
bound  to  it  by  that,  or  any  other  text  in  the  scriptures,  or  that 
that  alone  would  be  admitted  as  a  sufficient  reason  for  so  extraor- 
dinary a  measure." 

If  this  explanation  of  the  precept  given  to  Noah,  be  not 
satisfactory,  I  shall  mention  another.  Soon  after  the  flood,  the 
infancy  and  weakness  of  society  rendered  it  impossible  to  punish 
murder  by  confinement.  There  was  therefore  no  medium  be- 
tween inflicting  death  upon  a  murderer,  and  suffering  him  to 
escape  with  impunity,  and  thereby  to  perpetrate  more  acts  of 
violence  against  his  fellow  creatures.  It  pleased  God  in  this  con- 
dition of  the  world  to  permit  a  less  in  order  to  prevent  a  greater 
evil.  He  therefore  commits  for  a  while  his  exclusive  power  over 
human  life,  to  his  creatures  for  the  safety  and  preservation  of 
an*  infant  society,  which  might  otherwise  have  perished,  and 
with  it,  the  only  stock  of  the  human  race.  The  command  in- 
directly implies  that  the  crime  of  murder  was  not  punished  by 
death  in  the  mature  state  of  society  which  existed  before  the 
flood.  Nor  is  this  the  only  instance  upon  record  in  the  scriptures 

*  Rev.  xv,  10. 


ON  GOOD  GOVERNMENT  39 

in  which  God  has  delegated  his  power  over  human  life  to  his 
creatures.  Abraham  expresses  no  surprise  at  the  command  which 
God  gave  him  to  sacrifice  his  son.  He  submits  to  it  as  a  precept 
founded  in  reason  and  natural  justice,  for  nothing  could  be  more 
obvious  than  that  the  giver  of  life  had  a  right  to  claim  it  when 
and  in  such  manner  as  he  pleased.  'Till  men  are  able  to  give 
life,  it  becomes  them  to  tremble  at  the  thought  of  taking  it  away. 
Will  a  man  rob  God? — Yes — he  robs  him  of  what  is  infinitely 
dear  to  him — of  his  darling  attribute  of  mercy ,  every  time  he 
deprives  a  fellow  creature  of  life. 

4.  If  the  Mosaic  law  with  respect  to  murder,  be  obligatory 
upon  Christians,  it  follows  that  it  is  equally  obligatory  upon 
them  to  punish  adultery,  blasphemy,  and  other  capital  crimes 
that  are  mentioned  in  the  levitical  law,  by  death.  Nor  is  this  all: 
it  justifies  the  extirpation  of  the  Indians,  and  the  enslaving  of  the 
Africans;  for  the  command  to  the  Jews  to  destroy  the  Canaan- 
ites,  and  to  make  slaves  of  their  heathen  neighbours,  is  as  positive 
as  the  command  which  declares,  "that  he  that  killeth  a  man, 
shall  surely  be  put  to  death." 

5.  Every  part  of  the  levitical  law,  is  full  of  types  of  the 
Messiah.  May  not  the  punishment  of  death,  inflicted  by  it,  be  in- 
tended to  represent  the  demerit  and  consequences  of  sin,  as  the 
cities  of  refuge  were  the  offices  of  the  Messiah? 

6.  The  imperfection  and  severity  of  these  laws  were  prob- 
ably intended  farther — to  illustrate  the  perfection  and  mildness 
of  the  gospel  dispensation.  It  is  in  this  manner  that  God  has 
manifested  himself  in  many  of  his  acts.  He  created  darkness  first, 
to  illustrate  by  comparison  the  beauty  of  light;  and  he  permits 
sin,  misery,  and  death  in  the  moral  world,  that  he  may  hereafter 
display  more  illustriously  the  transcendent  glories  of  righteous- 
ness, happiness,  and  immortal  life.  This  opinion  is  favoured  by 
St.  Paul,  who  says,  "the  law  made  nothing  perfect,"  and  that  "it 
was  a  shadow  of  good  things  to  come." 

How  delightful  to  discover  such  an  exact  harmony  between 
the  dictates  of  reason,  the  order  and  happiness  of  society,  and 
the  precepts  of  the  gospel!  There  is  a  perfect  unity  in  truth. 


40        SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

Upon  all  subjects — in  all  ages — and  in  all  countries — truths  of 
every  kind  agree  with  each  other. 

It  has  been  said,  that  the  common  sense  of  all  nations,  and 
particularly  of  savages,  is  in  favour  of  punishing  murder  by 
death. 

The  common  sense  of  all  nations  is  in  favor  of  the  commerce 
and  slavery  of  their  fellow  creatures.  But  this  does  not  take  away 
from  their  immorality.  Could  it  be  proved  that  the  Indians 
punish  murder  by  death,  it  would  not  establish  the  right  of  man 
over  the  life  of  a  fellow  creature,  for  revenge  we  know  in  its 
utmost  extent  is  the  universal  and  darling  passion  of  all  savage 
nations.  The  practice  moreover,  (if  it  exist)  must  have  originated 
in  necessity;  for  a  people  who  have  no  settled  place  of  residence, 
and  who  are  averse  from  all  labour,  could  restrain  murder  in  no 
other  way.  But  I  am  disposed  to  doubt  whether  the  Indians 
punish  murder  by  death  among  their  own  tribes.  In  all  those 
cases  where  a  life  is  taken  away  by  an  Indian  of  a  foreign  tribe, 
they  always  demand  the  satisfaction  of  life  for  life.  But  this 
practice  is  founded  on  a  desire  of  preserving  a  balance  in  their 
numbers  and  power;  for  among  nations  which  consist  of  only  a 
few  warriors,  the  loss  of  an  individual  often  destroys  this  bal- 
ance, and  thereby  exposes  them  to  war  or  extermination.  It  is 
for  the  same  purpose  of  keeping  up  an  equality  in  numbers  and 
power,  that  they  often  adopt  captive  children  into  their  nations 
and  families.  What  makes  this  explanation  of  the  practice  of 
punishing  murder  by  death  among  the  Indians  more  probable,  is, 
that  we  find  the  same  bloody  and  vindictive  satisfaction  is  re- 
quired of  a  foreign  nation,  whether  the  person  lost,  be  killed 
by  an  accident,  or  by  premeditated  violence.  Many  facts  might 
be  mentioned  from  travellers  to  prove  that  the  Indians  do  not 
punish  murder  by  death  within  the  jurisdiction  of  their  own 
tribes.  I  shall  mention  only  one  which  is  taken  from  the  Rev. 
Mr.  John  Megapolensis's  account  of  the  Mohawk  Indians,  lately 
published  in  Mr.  Hazard's  historical  collection  of  state  papers. — 
"There  is  no  punishment,  (says  our  author)  here  for  murder, 
but  every  one  is  his  own  avenger.  The  friends  of  the  deceased 


ON  GOOD  GOVERNMENT  41 

revenge  themselves  upon  the  murderer  until  peace  is  made  with 
the  next  akin.  But  although  they  are  so  cruel,  yet  there  are  not 
half  so  many  murders  committed  among  them  as  among  Chris- 
tians, notwithstanding  their  severe  laws,  and  heavy  penalties." 

It  has  been  said,  that  the  horrors  of  a  guilty  conscience  pro- 
claim the  justice  and  necessity  of  death,  as  a  punishment  for 
murder.  I  draw  an  argument  of  another  nature  from  this  fact. 
Are  the  horrors  of  conscience  the  punishment  that  God  inflicts 
upon  murder?  why,  then,  should  we  shorten  or  destroy  them 
by  death,  especially  as  we  are  taught  to  direct  the  most  atrocious 
murderers  to  expect  pardon  in  the  future  world?  no,  let  us  not 
counteract  the  government  of  God  in  the  human  breast:  let  the 
murderer  live — but  let  it  be  to  suffer  the  reproaches  of  a  guilty 
conscience:  let  him  live,  to  make  compensation  to  society  for  the 
injury  he  has  done  it,  by  robbing  it  of  a  citizen:  let  him  live  to 
maintain  the  family  of  the  man  whom  he  has  murdered:  let  him 
live,  that  the  punishment  of  his  crime  may  become  universal: 
and  lastly  let  him  live — that  murder  may  be  extirpated  from  the 
list  of  human  crimes! 

Let  us  examine  the  conduct  of  the  moral  ruler  of  the  world 
towards  the  first  murderer:  see  Cain  returning  from  his  field, 
with  his  hands  reeking  with  the  blood  of  his  brother!  Do  the 
heavens  gather  blackness,  and  does  a  flash  of  lightning  blast  him 
to  the  earth?  no.  Does  his  father  Adam,  the  natural  legislator 
and  judge  of  the  world,  inflict  upon  him  the  punishment  of 
death? — No;  the  infinitely  wise  God  becomes  his  judge  and 
executioner.  He  expels  him  from  the  society  of  which  he  was 
a  member.  H^fixes  in  his  conscience  a  never-dying  worm.  He 
subjects  him  to  the  necessity  of  labor;  and  to  secure  a  duration 
of  his  punishment,  proportioned  to  his  crime,  he  puts  a  mark 
or  prohibition  upon  him,  to  prevent  his  being  put  to  death,  by 
weak  and  angry  men;  declaring,  at  the  same  time,  that  " whoso- 
ever slayeth  Cain,  vengeance  shall  be  taken  on  him  seven- 
fold." 

Judges,  attorneys,  witnesses,  juries  and  sheriffs,  whose  office 
it  is  to  Dunish  murder  bv  death.  I  beseech  vou  to  cause,  and 


42         SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

listen  to  the  voice  of  reason  and  religion,  before  you  convict 
or  execute  another  fellow-creature  for  murder! 

But  I  despair  of  making  such  an  impression  upon  the  present 
citizens  of  the  United  States,  as  shall  abolish  the  absurd  and 
un-Christian  practice.  From  the  connection  of  this  essay  with  the 
valuable  documents  of  the  late  revolution  contained  in  the  Ameri- 
can Museum,  it  will  probably  descend  to  posterity.  To  you, 
therefore,  the  unborn  generations  of  the  next  century,  I  conse- 
crate this  humble  tribute  to  justice.  You  will  enjoy  in  point  of 
knowledge,  the  meridian  of  a  day,  of  which  we  only  perceive 
the  twilight.  You  will  often  review  with  equal  contempt  and 
horror,  the  indolence,  ignorance  and  cruelty  of  your  ancestors. 
The  grossest  crimes  shall  not  exclude  the  perpetrators  of  them 
from  your  pity.  You  will  pdly  comprehend  the  extent  of  the 
discoveries  and  precepts  of  the  gospel,  and  you  will  be  actuated, 
I  hope,  by  its  gentle  and  forgiving  spirit.  You  will  see  many 
modern  opinions  in  religion  and  government  turned  upside 
downwards,  and  many  new  connexions  established  between 
cause  and  effect.  From  the  importance  and  destiny  of  every 
human  soul,  you  will  acquire  new  ideas  of  the  dignity  of  human 
nature,  and  of  the  infinite  value  of  every  act  of  benevolence 
that  has  for  its  object,  the  bodies,  the  souls,  and  the  lives  of  your 
fellow-creatures.  You  will  love  the  whole  human  race,  for  you 
will  perceive  that  you  have  a  common  Father,  and  you  will 
learn  to  imitate  him  by  converting  those  punishments  to  which 
their  folly  or  wickedness  have  exposed  them,  into  the  means 
of  their  reformation  and  happiness. 

6 

Soon  after  the  above  enquiry  was  published  in  the  American 
Museum,  a  reply  to  it  made  its  appearance  in  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Mercury,  under  the  signature  of  Philochoras;  which 
produced  the  following  answer.  The  principal  arguments 
in  favour  of  punishing  mwrder  by  death,  contained  in  the 
reply,  are  mentioned  in  the  answer,  for  which  reason  it  was 
not  thought  necessary  to  re-publish  the  whole  of  the  reply 
in  the  order  in  which  it  appeared  in  the  news  paper. 


ON  GOOD  GOVERNMENT  43 

I  have  read  a  reply  subscribed  Philochoras,  to  an  enquiry  into 
the  justice  and  policy  of  punishing  murder  by  death,  published 
some  time  ago  in  the  Museum.  The  author  of  it  has  attempted 
to  justify  public  and  capital  punishments,  as  well  as  war,  by  the 
precepts  of  the  gospel. — Let  not  my  readers  suppose  that  this 
author  is  a  sceptic — or  a  heathen — or  that  he  is  in  any  degree 
unfriendly  to  Christianity.  Far  from  it — he  is  a  minister  of  the 
gospel — and  a  man  of  a  worthy  private  as  well  as  public  char- 
acter. 

Our  author  begins  his  reply  by  asserting,  that  the  objection 
to  the  punishment  of  death  for  murder,  proceeded  originally 
from  the  socinian  objection  to  the  great  doctrine  of  the  atone- 
ment. Here  I  must  acknowledge  my  obligations  to  our  author 
for  having  furnished  me  with  a  new  argument  in  favor  of  my 
principles.  I  believe  in  the  doctrine  of  the  atonement,  not  only 
because  it  is  clearly  revealed  in  the  Old  and  New  Testaments, 
but  because  it  is  agreeable  to  nature,  and  reason.  Life  is  the  prod- 
uct of  death,  throughout  every  part  of  the  animal  creation. 
Reason  likewise  establishes  the  necessity  of  the  atonement,  for 
it  has  lately  taught  us  in  the  writings  of  the  Marquis  of  Beccaria, 
that  in  a  perfect  human  government  there  should  be  no  pardon- 
ing power:  and  experience  has  taught  us  that  where  certainty 
has  taken  the  place  of  severity  of  punishment,  crimes  have  evi- 
dently and  rapidly  diminished  in  every  country.  The  demands 
of  the  divine  law  which  made  the  shedding  of  blood  necessary 
to  the  remission  of  sin,  is  a  sublime  illustration  of  the  perfection 
of  the  divine  government,  and  of  the  love  of  the  Supreme  Being 
to  his  intelligent  creatures.  But  in  the  demand  of  life  for  dis- 
obedience, let  the  divine  law  stand  alone.  Men  stand  in  a  very 
different  relation  to  each  other,  from  that  which  God  sustains 
to  men.  They  are  all  fallible,  and  deficient  in  a  thousand  duties 
which  they  owe  to  each  other.  They  are  bound,  therefore,  by 
the  precept  of  doing  to  others,  as  they  would  have  them  do 
them,  to  forgive,  without  a  satisfaction,  inasmuch  as  they  con- 
stantly require  the  same  forgiveness  to  be  exercised  towards 
themselves.  To  punish  murder,  therefore,  or  any  other  crime,  by 


44        SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

death,  under  the  gospel  dispensation,  is  to  exalt  the  angry  and 
vindictive  passions  of  men  to  an  equality  with  the  perfect  law 
of  God.  It  is  to  place  imperfect  individuals  and  corrupted  human 
governments,  upon  the  throne  of  the  righteous  judge  of  the 
universe:  nay,  more — it  is  to  make  the  death  of  Christ  of  no 
effect;  for  every  time  we  punish  murder  by  death,  we  practi- 
cally deny  that  it  was  a  full  expiation  for  every  sin,  and  thereby 
exclude  ourselves  from  deriving  any  benefit  from  it,  for  he  has 
made  the  forgiveness  of  injuries,  without  any  exceptions,  whether 
committed  against  us  in  our  private  capacities,  or  as  members  of 
a  community,  the  express  condition  of  our  title  to  the  forgive- 
ness which  he  has  purchased  for  us  by  his  death. 

The  arguments  against  the  punishment  of  murder  by  death, 
from  reason,  remain  on  an  immoveable  foundation.  Our  author 
has  contradicted — but  has  not  refuted  one  of  them.  I  affirmed 
in  my  former  essay,  that  the  punishment  of  murder  by  death  had 
been  abolished  in  several  of  the  European  nations.  I  wish  for  the 
honor  of  our  author's  profession,  he  had  doubted  of  this  asser- 
tion with  more  of  the  meek  and  gentle  spirit  of  a  Christian.  To 
satisfy  him  upon  this  subject,  I  shall  subjoin  the  following  ex- 
tracts from  authorities  which  are  now  before  me. — In  the  in- 
structions to  the  commissioners  appointed  to  frame  a  new  code 
of  laws  for  the  Russian  Empire,  by  Catharine  II.  the  present 
empress  of  Russia,  I  find  the  following  passage.  I  take  great 
pleasure  in  transcribing  it,  as  the  sentiments  it  contains  do  so 
much  honor  not  only  to  the  female  understanding,  but  to  the 
human  mind. 

"Proofs  from  facts  demonstrate  to  us,  that  the  frequent  use 
of  capital  punishments,  never  mended  the  morals  of  a  people. 
Therefore,  if  I  prove  the  death  of  a  citizen  to  be  neither  useful 
nor  necessary  to  society  in  general,  I  shall  confute  those  who 
rise  up  against  humanity.  In  a  reign  of  peace  and  tranquillity, 
under  a  government  established  with  the  united  wishes  of  a  whole 
people,  in  a  state  well  fortified  against  external  enemies,  and  pro- 
tected within  by  strong  supports;  that  is,  by  its  own  internal 
strength,  and  virtuous  sentiments,  rooted  in  the  minds  of  the 


ON  GOOD  GOVERNMENT  45 

citizens,  there  can  be  no  necessity  for  taking  away  the  life  of  a 
citizen.  It  is  not  the  excess  of  severity,  nor  the  destruction  of  the 
human  species,  that  produces  a  powerful  effect  upon  the  hearts 
of  the  citizens,  but  the  continued  duration  of  the  punishment. 
The  death  of  a  malefactor  is  not  so  efficacious  a  method  of  de- 
terring from  wickedness,  as  the  example  continually  remaining, 
of  a  man  who  is  deprived  of  his  liberty,  that  he  might  repair, 
during  a  life  of  labour,  the  injury  he  has  done  to  the  community. 
The  terror  of  death  excited  by  the  imagination  may  be  more 
strong,  but  has  not  force  enough  to  resist  that  oblivion  which  is 
so  natural  to  mankind.  It  is  a  general  rule,  that  rapid  and  violent 
impressions  upon  the  human  mind,  disturb  and  give  pain,  but 
do  not  operate  long  upon  the  memory.  That  a  punishment, 
therefore,  might  be  conformable  with  justice,  it  ought  to  have 
such  a  degree  of  severity  as  might  be  sufficient  to  deter  people 
from  committing  the  crime.  Hence  I  presume  to  affirm,  that  there 
is  no  man  who,  upon  the  least  degree  of  reflexion,  would  put 
the  greatest  possible  advantages,  he  might  flatter  himself  from  a 
crime,  on  the  one  side,  into  the  balance  against  a  life  protracted 
under  a  total  privation  of  liberty,  on  the  other" 

In  a  British  review  for  the  present  year,  I  find  a  short  account 
of  the  code  of  penal  laws  lately  enacted  by  the  emperor  of  Ger- 
many. This  enlightened  monarch  has  divided  imprisonment  into 
mild — severe — and  rigorous.  For  the  crime  of  murder,  he  inflicts 
the  punishment  of  rigorous  imprisonment — which  from  its  dura- 
tion, and  other  terrifying  circumstances  that  attend  it,  is  calcu- 
lated to  produce  more  beneficial  effects  in  preventing  murders, 
than  all  the  executions  that  have  ever  taken  place  in  any  age  or 
country. 

I  derived  my  information  of  the  abolition  of  capital  punish- 
ment in  Sweden  and  Tuscany,  from  two  foreigners  of  distinc- 
tion, who  lately  visited  the  United  States.  The  one  was  an  Italian 
nobleman,  the  other  was  a  captain  in  the  Swedish  navy — both  of 
whom  commanded  every  where  respect  and  attachment  for  their 
abilities  and  virtues. 

It  is  true,  this  happy  revolution  in  favour  of  justice  and  hu- 


46        SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

manity,  in  the  instances  that  have  been  mentioned,  did  not  origi- 
nate in  a  convocation  or  a  synod.  It  may  either  be  ascribed  to 
the  light  of  the  gospel  shining  in  "darkness,  which  comprehended 
it  not" — or  to  the  influence  of  sound  and  cultivated  reason — for 
reason  and  religion  have  the  same  objects.  They  are  in  no  one 
instance  opposed  to  each  other.  On  the  contrary,  reason  is  noth- 
ing but  imperfect  religion,  and  religion  is  nothing  but  perfect 
reason. 

It  becomes  Christians  to  beware  how  far  they  condemn  the 
popular  virtue  of  humanity,  because  it  is  recommended  by  Deists, 
or  by  persons  who  do  not  profess  to  be  bound  by  the  strict 
obligations  of  Christianity. — Voltaire  first  taught  the  princes  of 
Europe  the  duty  of  religious  toleration.  The  Duke  of  Sully  has 
demonstrated  the  extreme  folly  of  war,  and  has  proved  that  when 
it  has  been  conducted  with  the  most  glory,  it  never  added  an 
atom  to  national  happiness.  The  Marquis  of  Beccaria  has  estab- 
lished a  connexion  between  the  abolition  of  capital  punishments, 
and  the  order  and  happiness  of  society.  Should  any  thing  be 
found  in  the  Scriptures,  contrary  to  these  discoveries,  it  is  easy 
to  foresee  that  the  principles  of  the  deists  and  the  laws  of  mod- 
ern legislators  will  soon  have  a  just  preference  to  the  principles 
and  precepts  of  the  gospel. 

Our  author  attempts  to  support  his  sanguinary  tenets  by  an 
appeal  to  revelation.  And  here  I  shall  make  two  preliminary 
remarks. 

1.  There  is  no  opinion  so  absurd  or  impious,  that  may  not  be 
supported  by  solitary  texts  of  scripture.  To  collect  the  sense  of 
the  bible  upon  any  subject,  we  must  be  governed  by  its  whole 
spirit  and  tenor. 

2.  The  design  of  Christianity  at  its  first  promulgation  was 
to  reform  the  world  by  its  spirit  rather  than  by  its  positive 
precepts. 

Our  Saviour  does  not  forbid  slavery  in  direct  terms — but  he 
indirectly  bears  a  testimony  against  it,  by  commanding  us  to  do 
to  others  what  we  would  have  them  in  like  circumstances  to  do 
to  us.  He  did  not  aim  to  produce  a  sudden  revolution  in  the 


ON  GOOD  GOVERNMENT  47 

affairs  of  men.  He  knew  too  well  the  power  and  efficacy  of  his 
religion  for  that  purpose.  It  was  unnecessary,  therefore,  to  sub- 
ject it  to  additional  opposition,  by  a  direct  attack  upon  the 
prejudices  and  interests  of  mankind,  both  of  which  were  closely 
interwoven  with  the  texture  of  their  civil  governments. 

After  these  remarks,  I  shall  only  add,  that  the  declaration  of 
St.  Paul  before  Festus,  respecting  the  punishment  of  death  *  and 
the  speech  of  the  dying  thief  on  the  cross, f  only  prove  that  the 
punishment  of  death  was  agreeable  to  the  Roman  law,  but  they 
by  no  means  prove  that  they  were  sanctioned  by  the  gospel. — 
Human  life  was  extremely  cheap  under  the  Roman  government. 
Of  this  we  need  no  further  proof  than  the  head  of  John  the 
Baptist  forming  a  part  of  a  royal  entertainment.  From  the  fre- 
quency of  public  executions,  among  those  people,  the  sword 
was  considered  as  an  emblem  of  public  justice — but  to  suppose 
from  this  appeal  to  a  sign  of  justice,  or  from  our  Saviour's  para- 
ble of  the  destruction  of  the  husbandmen,  that  capital  punish- 
ments are  approved  of  in  the  New  Testament,  is  as  absurd  as  it 
would  be  to  suppose  that  horseracing  was  a  Christian  exercise, 
from  St.  Paul's  frequent  allusions  to  the  Olympic  games. 

The  declaration  of  the  barbarians  upon  seeing  the  snake 
fasten  upon  St.  Paul's  hand  proves  nothing  but  the  ignorance 
of  those  uncivilized  people.  I  deny  the  consent  of  all  nations  to 
the  punishment  of  death  for  murder — but  if  it  were  true — it 
only  proves  the  universality  of  the  ignorance  and  depravity  of 
man.  Revenge,  dissimulation,  and  even  theft,  prevail  among  all 
the  nations  in  the  world, — and  yet  who  will  dare  to  assert,  that 
these  vices  are  just,  or  necessary  to  the  order  or  happiness  of 
society. 

Our  author  does  not  distinguish  between  the  sense  of  justice 
so  universal  among  all  nations,  and  an  approbation  of  death  as 
a  punishment  for  murder.  The  former  is  written  by  the  finger 

*  "For  if  I  be  an  offender,  and  have  committed  any  thing  worthy  of 
death,  I  refuse  not  to  die."  Acts  25  and  11. 

t  "We  indeed"  suffer  "justly,  for  we  receive  the  due  reward  of  our 
deeds."  Luke  23  and  41. 


48        SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

of  God  upon  every  human  heart,  but  like  his  own  attribute  of 
justice,  it  has  the  happiness  of  individuals  and  of  society  for  its 
objects.  It  is  always  misled,  when  it  seeks  for  satisfaction  in 
punishments  that  are  injurious  to  society,  or  that  are  dispropor- 
tioned  to  crimes.  The  satisfaction  of  this  universal  sense  of  jus- 
tice by  the  punishments  of  imprisonment  and  labor,  would  far 
exceed  that  which  is  derived  from  the  punishment  of  death;  for 
it  would  be  of  longer  duration,  and  it  would  more  frequently 
occur,  for,  upon  a  principle  laid  down  in  the  first  essay  upon  this 
subject,  scarcely  any  species  of  murder  would  escape  with  im- 
punity.* 

The  conduct  and  discourses  of  our  Saviour  should  outweigh 
every  argument  that  has  been  or  can  be  offered  in  favour  of 
capital  punishment  for  any  crime.  When  the  woman  caught  in 
adultery  was  brought  to  him,  he  evaded  inflicting  the  bloody 
sentence  of  the  Jewish  law  upon  her.  Even  the  maiming  of  the 
body  appears  to  be  offensive  in  his  sight,  for  when  Peter  drew 
his  sword  and  smote  off  the  ear  of  the  servant  of  the  high  priest, 
he  replaced  it  by  miracle,  and  at  the  same  time  declared,  that 
"all  they  who  take  the  sword,  shall  perish  with  the  sword."  He 
forgave  the  crime  of  murder,  on  his  cross;  and  after  his  resur- 
rection, he  commanded  his  disciples  to  preach  the  gospel  of 
forgiveness  first  at  Jerusalem,  where  he  well  knew  his  murderers 
still  resided.  These  striking  facts  are  recorded  for  our  imitation, 
and  seem  intended  to  show  that  the  Son  of  God  died,  not  only 
to  reconcile  God  to  man,  but  to  reconcile  men  to  each  other. 
There  is  one  passage  more,  in  the  history  of  our  Saviour's  life, 
which  would  of  itself  overset  the  justice  of  the  punishment  of 
death  for  murder,  if  every  other  part  of  the  Bible  had  been  silent 

*  A  scale  of  punishments  by  means  of  imprisonment  and  labor  might 
easily  be  contrived,  so  as  to  be  accommodated  to  the  different  degrees 
of  atrocity  in  murder.  For  example — for  the  first  or  highest  degree  of 
guilt,  let  the  punishment  be  solitude  and  darkness,  and  a  total  want  of 
employment.  For  the  second,  solitude  and  labour,  with  the  benefit  of 
light.  For  the  third,  confinement  and  labor.  The  duration  of  these  punish- 
ments should  likewise  be  governed  by  the  atrocity  of  the  murder,  and 
by  the  signs  of  contrition  and  amendment  in  the  criminal. 


ON  GOOD  GOVERNMENT  49 

upon  the  subject.  When  two  of  his  disciples,  actuated  by  the 
spirit  of  vindictive  legislators,  requested  permission  of  him  to 
call  down  fire  from  heaven  to  consume  the  inhospitable  Samari- 
tans, he  answered  them  "the  Son  of  Man  is  not  come  to  destroy 
men's  lives,  but  to  save  them."  I  wish  these  words  composed 
the  motto  of  the  arms  of  every  nation  upon  the  face  of  the  earth. 
They  inculcate  every  duty  that  is  calculated  to  preserve — restore 
— or  prolong  human  life.  They  militate  alike  against  war — and 
capital  punishments — the  objects  of  which  are  the  unprofitable 
destruction  of  the  lives  of  men.  How  precious  does  a  human  life 
appear  from  these  words,  in  the  sight  of  heaven!  Pause,  legis- 
lators, when  you  give  your  votes  for  inflicting  the  punishment 
of  death  for  any  crime.  You  frustrate,  in  one  instance,  the  design 
of  the  mission  of  the  Son  of  God  into  the  world,  and  thereby 
either  deny  his  appearance  in  the  flesh,  or  reject  the  truth  of  his 
gospel.  You  moreover  strengthen  by  your  conduct  the  argu- 
ments of  the  Deists  and  Socinians  against  the  particular  doctrines 
of  the  Christian  revelation.  You  do  more — you  preserve  a  bloody 
fragment  of  the  ancient  institution.  "The  Son  of  Man  came  not 
to  destroy  men's  lives,  but  to  save  them."  Excellent  words!  I 
require  no  others  to  satisfy  me  of  the  truth  and  divine  original 
of  the  Christian  religion,  and  while  I  am  able  to  place  a  finger 
upon  this  text  of  scripture,  I  will  not  believe  an  angel  from 
heaven,  should  he  declare  that  the  punishment  of  death  for  any 
crime  was  inculcated,  or  permitted  by  the  spirit  of  the  gospel. 
It  has  been  said,  that  a  man  who  has  committed  a  murder, 
has  discovered  a  malignity  of  heart,  that  renders  him  ever  after- 
wards unfit  to  live  in  human  society.  This  is  by  no  means  true 
in  many,  and  perhaps  in  most  of  the  cases  of  murder.  It  is  most 
frequently  the  effect  of  a  sudden  gust  of  passion,  and  has  some- 
times been  the  only  stain  of  a  well  spent  or  inoffensive  life. 
There  are  many  crimes  which  unfit  a  man  much  more  for  human 
society,  than  a  single  murder,  and  there  have  been  instances  of 
murderers  who  have  escaped  or  bribed  the  laws  of  their  country, 
who  have  afterwards  become  peaceable,  and  useful  members  of 
society.  Let  it  not  be  supposed  that  I  wish  to  palliate  by  this 


5o        SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

remark,  the  enormity  of  murder.  Far  from  it.  It  is  only  because 
I  view  murder  with  such  superlative  horror,  that  I  wish  to  de- 
prive our  laws  of  the  power  of  perpetrating  and  encouraging  it. 

Our  author  has  furnished  us  with  a  number  of  tales  to  show 
that  the  providence  of  God  is  concerned  in  a  peculiar  manner 
in  detecting  murder,  and  that  the  confessions  of  murderers  have 
in  many  instances  sanctified  the  justice  of  their  punishment.  I  do 
not  wish  to  lessen  the  influence  of  such  vulgar  errors  as  tend 
to  prevent  crimes,  but  I  will  venture  to  declare,  that  many  more 
murderers  escape  discovery,  than  are  detected,  or  punished. 
Were  I  not  afraid  of  trespassing  upon  the  patience  of  my 
readers,  I  might  mention  a  number  of  facts,  in  which  circum- 
stances of  the  most  trifling  nature  have  become  the  means  of 
detecting  theft  and  forgery,  from  which  I  could  draw  as  strong 
proofs  of  the  watchfulness  of  providence  over  the  property  of 
individuals,  and  the  order  of  society,  as  our  author  has  drawn 
from  the  detection  of  murder.  I  might  mention  instances,  like- 
wise, of  persons  in  whom  conscience  has  produced  restitution 
for  stolen  goods,  or  confession  of  the  justice  of  the  punishment 
which  was  inflicted  for  theft.  Conscience  and  knowledge  always 
keep  pace  with  each  other,  both  with  respect  to  divine  and 
human  laws.  A  party  of  soldiers  in  the  Duke  of  Alva's  army, 
murdered  a  man  and  his  wife  with  six  children.  They  roasted 
the  youngest  child,  and  dined  upon  it.  One  of  them  after  din- 
ner clapped  his  hands  together,  and  with  great  agitation  of  mind 
cried  out  "good  God — what  have  I  done?" — What?  said  one 
of  his  companions — uwhy"  said  the  other  "I  have  eaten  flesh  in 
Lent  time."  Here  conscience  kept  pace  with  his  degrees  of 
knowledge.  The  same  thing  occurs  upon  different  occasions 
every  day.  The  acquiescence  of  murderers  in  the  justice  of  their 
execution,  is  the  effect  of  prejudice  and  education.  It  cannot 
flow  from  a  conscience  acting  in  concert  with  reason  or  re- 
ligion— for  they  both  speak  a  very  different  language. 

The  world  has  certainly  undergone  a  material  change  for  the 
better  within  the  last  two  hundred  years.  This  change  has  been 
produced  chiefly,  by  the  secret  and  unacknowledged  influence 


ON  GOOD  GOVERNMENT  51 

of  Christianity  upon  the  hearts  of  men.  It  is  agreeable  to  trace 
the  effects  of  the  Christian  religion  in  the  extirpation  of  slavery — 
in  the  diminution  of  the  number  of  capital  punishments,  and  in 
the  mitigation  of  the  horrors  of  war.  There  was  a  time  when 
masters  possessed  a  power  over  the  lives  of  their  slaves.  But 
Christianity  has  deposed  this  power,  and  mankind  begins  to  see 
every  where  that  slavery  is  alike  contrary  to  the  interests  of 
society,  and  the  spirit  of  the  gospel.  There  was  a  time  when 
torture  was  part  of  the  punishment  of  death,  and  when  the  num- 
ber of  capital  crimes  amounted  to  one  hundred  and  sixty-one. 
Christianity  has  abolished  the  former,  and  reduced  the  latter  to 
not  more  than  six  or  seven.  It  has  done  more.  It  has  confined  in 
some  instances  capital  punishments  to  the  crime  of  murder  only 
— and  in  some  countries  it  has  abolished  it  altogether.  The  in- 
fluence of  Christianity  upon  the  modes  of  war  has  been  still  more 
remarkable.  It  is  agreeable  to  trace  its  progress. 

i st.  In  rescuing  women  and  children  from  being  the  objects 
of  the  desolations  of  war  in  common  with  men. 

adly.  In  preventing  the  destruction  of  captives  taken  in  battle, 
in  cold  blood. 

3dly.  In  protecting  the  peaceable  husbandman  from  sharing 
in  the  carnage  of  war. 

4thly.  In  producing  an  exchange  of  prisoners,  instead  of 
dooming  them  to  perpetual  slavery. 

5thly.  In  avoiding  the  invasion  or  destruction,  in  certain 
cases,  of  private  property. 

6thly.  In  declaring  all  wars  to  be  unlawful  but  such  as  are 
purely  defensive. 

This  is  the  only  tenure  by  which  war  now  holds  its  place 
among  Christians.  It  requires  but  little  ingenuity  to  prove  that  a 
defensive  war  cannot  be  carried  on  successfully  without  offen- 
sive operations.  If  this  be  true,  then  this  last  degree  of  it,  upon 
our  author's  principles,  must  be  contrary  t6  the  spirit  of  the 
gospel.  Already  the  princes  and  nations  of  the  world  discover 
the  struggles  of  opinion  or  conscience  in  their  preparations  for 
war.  Witness,  the  many  national  disputes  which  have  been  lately 


52         SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

terminated  in  Europe  by  negotiation,  or  mediation.  Witness, 
too,  the  establishment  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
without  force  or  bloodshed.  These  events  indicate  an  improving 
state  of  human  affairs.  They  lead  us  to  look  forward  with  ex- 
pectation to  the  time,  when  the  weapons  of  war  shall  be  changed 
into  implements  of  husbandry,  and  when  rapine  and  violence 
shall  be  no  more.  These  events  are  the  promised  fruits  of  the 
gospel.  If  they  do  not  come  to  pass,  the  prophets  have  deceived 
us.  But  if  they  do — war  must  be  as  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  the 
gospel,  as  fraud,  or  murder,  or  any  other  of  the  vices  which  are 
reproved  or  extirpated  by  it.* 

I  cannot  take  leave  of  this  subject  without  remarking  that 
capital  punishments  are  the  natural  offspring  of  monarchical  gov- 
ernments. Kings  believe  that  they  possess  their  crowns  by  a 
divine  right:  no  wonder,  therefore,  they  assume  the  divine  power 
of  taking  away  human  life.  Kings  consider  their  subjects  as  their 
property:  no  wonder,  therefore,  they  shed  their  blood  with  as 
little  emotion  as  men  shed  the  blood  of  their  sheep  or  cattle.  But 
the  principles  of  republican  governments  speak  a  very  different 
language.  They  teach  us  the  absurdity  of  the  divine  origin  of 
kingly  power.  They  approximate  the  extreme  ranks  of  men  to 
each  other.  They  restore  man  to  his  God — to  society — and  to 
himself.  They  revive  and  establish  the  relations  of  fellow-citizen, 
friend,  and  brother.  They  appreciate  human  life,  and  increase 
public  and  private  obligations  to  preserve  it.  They  consider 
human  sacrifices  as  no  less  offensive  to  the  sovereignty  of  the 
people,  than  they  are  to  the  majesty  of  heaven.  They  view  the 
attributes  of  government,  like  the  attributes  of  the  Deity,  as 
infinitely  more  honoured  by  destroying  evil  by  means  of  merci- 
ful than  by  exterminating  punishments.  The  United  States  have 

*  The  spirit  of  Christianity  which  our  author  describes  as  a  vulgar 
deistical  species  of  humanity,  has  found  its  way  into  schools  and  families, 
and  has  abolished,  in  both,  corporal  and  ignominious  punishments.  In 
the  instructions  to  the  masters  and  mistresses  of  the  sundry  schools,  I 
observe  with  great  pleasure  a  direction  "to  use  corporal  punishments  as 
seldom  as  possible." 


ON  GOOD  GOVERNMENT  53 

adopted  these  peaceful  and  benevolent  forms  of  government.  It 
becomes  them  therefore  to  adopt  their  mild  and  benevolent  prin- 
ciples. An  execution  in  a  republic  is  like  a  human  sacrifice  in 
religion.  It  is  an  offering  to  monarchy,  and  to  that  malignant 
being,  who  has  been  styled  a  murderer  from  the  beginning,  and 
who  delights  equally  in  murder,  whether  it  be  perpetrated  by  the 
cold,  but  vindictive  arm  of  the  law,  or  by  the  angry  hand  of 
private  revenge. 


OBSERVATIONS  ON  THE 
GOVERNMENT  OF  PENNSYLVANIA 


Letter  1 

EVERY  FREE  government  should  consist  of  three  parts,  viz.  I.  A 
BILL  OF  RIGHTS.  II.  A  CONSTITUTION.  And  III.  LAWS. 

I.  The  BILL  OF  RIGHTS  should  contain  the  great  principles  of 
natural  and  civil  liberty.  It  should  be  unalterable  by  any  human 
power. 

II.  The  CONSTITUTION  is  the  executive  part  of  the  Bill  of 
Rights.  It  should  contain  the  division  and  distribution  of  the 
power  of  the  people. — The  modes  and  forms  of  making  laws,  of 
executing  justice,  and  of  transacting  business:  Also  the  limitation 
of  power,  as  to  time  and  jurisdiction.  It  should  be  unalterable  by 
the  legislature,  and  should  be  changed  only  by  a  representation 
of  the  people,  chosen  for  that  purpose. 

III.  LAWS  are  the  executive  part  of  a  constitution.  They  cease 
to  be  binding  whenever  they  transgress  the  principles  of  Liberty, 
as  laid  down  in  the  Constitution  and  Bill  of  Rights. 

Let  us  now  apply  these  principles  to  the  Bill  of  Rights,  Con- 
stitution and  Laws  of  Pennsylvania.  But  previous  to  my  entering 
upon  this  task,  I  beg  leave  to  declare,  that  I  am  not  led  to  it  by  a 
single  party  or  personal  prejudice;  on  the  contrary,  I  honour 
most  of  the  friends  of  the  present  government  as  the  warmest 
Whigs  among  us,  and  I  am  proud  of  numbering  several  of  the 
gentlemen  who  were  concerned  in  making,  and  in  attempting 
to  execute  the  government,  among  my  particular  friends. 

54 


ON  GOOD  GOVERNMENT  55 

I.  The  Bill  of  Rights  has  confounded  natural  and  civil  rights 
in  such  a  manner  as  to  produce  endless  confusion  in  society. 

II.  The  Constitution  in  the  gross  is  exceptionable  in  the  fol- 
lowing particulars: 

1.  No  regard  is  paid  in  it  to  the  ancient  habits  and  customs 
of  the  people  of  Pennsylvania  in  the  distribution  of  the  supreme 
power  of  the  state,  nor  in  the  forms  of  business,  or  in  the  style 
of  the  Constitution.  The  suddenness  of  the  late  revolution,  the 
attachment  of  a  large  body  of  the  people  to  the  old  Constitution 
of  the  state,  and  the  general  principles  of  human  nature  made 
an  attention  to  ancient  forms  and  prejudices  a  matter  of  the 
utmost  importance  to  this  state  in  the  present  controversy  with 
Great  Britain.  Of  so  much  consequence  did  the  wise  Athenians 
view  the  force  of  ancient  habits  and  customs  in  their  laws  and 
government,  that  they  punished  all  strangers  with  death  who 
interfered  in  their  politics.  They  well  knew  the  effects  of  novelty 
upon  the  minds  of  the  people,  and  that  a  more  fatal  stab  could 
not  be  given  to  the  peace  and  safety  of  their  state  than  by  expos- 
ing its  laws  and  government  to  frequent  or  unnecessary  inno- 
vations. 

2.  The  Constitution  is  wholly  repugnant  to  the  principles  of 
action  in  man,  and  has  a  direct  tendency  to  check  the  progress 
of  genius  and  virtue  in  human  nature.  It  supposes  perfect  equal- 
ity, and  an  equal  distribution  of  property,  wisdom  and  virtue, 
among  the  inhabitants  of  the  state. 

3.  It  comprehends  many  things  which  belong  to  a  Bill  of 
Rights,  and  to  Laws,  and  which  form  no  part  of  a  Constitution. 

4.  It  is  contrary,  in  an  important  article,  to  the  Bill  of  Rights. 
By  the  second  article  of  the  Bill  of  Rights,  "no  man  can  be 
abridged  of  any  civil  right,  who  acknowledges  the  being  of  a 
GOD;"  but  by  the  Constitution,  no  man  can  take  his  seat  in  the 
Assembly,  who  does  not  "acknowledge  the  Scriptures  of  the 
Old  and  New  Testament  to  be  given  by  divine  inspiration." 

5.  It  is  deficient  in  point  of  perspicuity  and  method.  Instead 
of  reducing  the  legislative,  executive  and  judicial  parts  of  the 
constitution,  with  their  several  powers  and  forms  of  business, 


56        SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

to  distinct  heads,  the  whole  of  them  are  jumbled  together  in  a 
most  unsystematic  manner. 

6.  It  fixes  all  these  imperfections  upon  the  people  for  seven 
years,  by  precluding  them  from  the  exercise  of  their  own  power 
to  remove  them  at  any  other  time,  or  in  any  other  manner  than 
by  a  septennial  convention,  called  by  a  Council  of  Censors. 

III.  The  laws  and  proceedings  of  the  Assembly  of  Pennsyl- 
vania are  in  many  particulars  contrary  to  the  Constitution.  Only 
one  half  of  the  Members  took  the  oath  of  allegiance,  prescribed 
in  the  tenth  section  of  the  Constitution.  The  Speaker  of  the 
House  issued  writs  for  the  election  of  Members  of  Assembly  and 
of  Counsellors,  notwithstanding  this  power  is  lodged,  by  the 
i  pth  section  of  the  Constitution,  only  in  the  President  and  Coun- 
cil. Two  gentlemen  were  appointed  Members  of  ^Congress,  who 
held  offices  under  the  Congress,  which  is  expressly  forbidden 
in  the  nth  section  of  the  Constitution.  The  Constitution  re- 
quires further  in  the  4oth  section,  that  every  military  officer 
should  take  the  oath  of  allegiance,  before  he  enters  upon  the 
execution  of  his  office;  but  the  Assembly  have  dispensed  with 
this  oath  in  their  Militia  Law.  The  ijth  section  of  the  Constitu- 
tion declares,  that  no  law  shall  be  passed,  unless  it  be  previously 
published  for  the  consideration  of  the  People;  but  the  Assembly 
passed  all  the  laws  of  their  late  session,  without  giving  the 
People  an  opportunity  of  seeing  them,  till  they  were  called  upon 
to  obey  them.  These  proceedings  of  the  Assembly  lead  to  one, 
and  perhaps  to  all  the  three  following  conclusions:  First,  That 
the  Assembly  have  violated  the  principles  of  the  Constitution; 
secondly,  that  the  Constitution  is  so  formed,  that  it  could  not 
be  executed  by  the  Assembly,  consistent  with  the  safety  of  the 
State;  lastly,  that  none  of  their  laws  are  binding,  inasmuch  as 
they  are  contrary  to  the  superior  and  radical  laws  of  the  Con- 
stitution. These  considerations  are  all  of  a  most  alarming  nature. 
Farewell  to  Liberty,  when  the  sacred  bulwarks  of  a  Constitution 
can  be  invaded  by  a  legislature!  And  if  the  Constitution  cannot 
be  executed  in  all  its  parts,  without  endangering  the  safety  of 
the  State,  and  if  all  our  late  laws  must  be  set  aside  in  a  court  of 


ON  GOOD  GOVERNMENT  57 

justice,  because  they  were  not  assented  to  by  the  People,  previous 
to  their  being  enacted,  is  it  not  high  time  for  the  People  to  unite 
and  form  a  more  effectual,  and  more  practicable  system  of  gov- 
ernment? .  .  . 

If  strict  justice  should  poise  the  scale  in  the  trial  of  Tory 
property,  I  can  easily  foresee  from  the  virtue  of  the  People,  on 
which  side  the  beam  would  turn;  but  it  becomes  us  to  reflect, 
that  all  trials  for  forfeited  property  must  be  held  in  courts  of 
ivritten  law,  and  the  flaws  of  our  Constitution  and  laws  are  so 
wide,  that  the  most  gigantic  Tory  criminal  might  escape  through 
them. 

Letter  II 

I  shall  now  proceed  to  say  a  few  words  upon  particular  parts 
of  the  Constitution. 

In  the  second  section,  "the  supreme  legislature  is  vested  in  a 
'single'  House  of  Representatives  of  the  Freemen  of  the  Com- 
monwealth." By  this  section  we  find,  that  the  supreme,  absolute, 
and  uncontrolled  power  of  the  whole  State  is  lodged  in  the  hands 
of  one  body  of  men.  Had  it  been  lodged  in  the  hands  of  one  man, 
it  would  have  been  less  dangerous  to  the  safety  and  liberties  of 
the  community.  Absolute  power  should  never  be  trusted  to  man. 
It  has  perverted  the  wisest  heads,  and  corrupted  the  best  hearts 
in  the  world.  I  should  be  afraid  to  commit  my  property,  liberty 
and  life  to  a  body  of  angels  for  one  whole  year.  The  Supreme 
Being  alone  is  qualified  to  possess  supreme  power  over  his  crea- 
tures. It  requires  the  wisdom  and  goodness  of  a  Deity  to  control, 
and  direct  it  properly. 

In  order  to  show  the  extreme  danger  of  trusting  all  the  legis- 
lative power  of  a  State  *o  a  single  representation,  I  shall  beg  leave 
to  transcribe  a  few  sentences  from  a  letter,  written  by  Mr.  JOHN 
ADAMS,  to  one  of  his  friends  in  North  Carolina,  who  requested 
him  to  favour  him  with  a  plan  of  government  for  that  State  above 
a  twelve-month  ago.  This  illustrious  Citizen,  who  is  second  to 
no  man  in  America,  in  an  inflexible  attachment  to  the  liberties 


58        SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

of  this  country,  and  to  republican  forms  of  government,  writes 
as  follows, 

"I  think  a  people  cannot  be  long  free,  nor  ever  happy,  whose 
government  is  in  one  Assembly.  My  reasons  for  this  opinion  are 
as  follow, 

1.  "A  single  Assembly  is  liable  to  all  the  vices,  follies  and 
frailties  of  an  individual, — subject  to  fits  of  humour, — starts  of 
passions,*  flights  of  enthusiasm, — partialities  of  prejudice,  and 
consequently  productive  of  hasty  results  and  absurd  judgments. 
All  these  errors  ought  to  be  corrected,  and  defects  supplied  by 
some  controlling  power. 

2.  "A  single  Assembly  is  apt  to  be  avaricious,  and  in  time  will 
not  scruple  to  exempt  itself  from  burdens,  which  it  will  lay, 
without  compunction,  upon  its  constituents. 

3.  "A  single  Assembly  is  apt  to  grow  ambitious,  and  after  a 
time  will  not  hesitate  to  vote  itself  perpetual.  This  was  one  fault 
of  the  Long  Parliament,  but  more  remarkably  of  Holland,  whose 
Assembly  first  voted  themselves  from  annual  to  septennial,  then 
for  life,  and  after  a  course  of  years,  that  all  vacancies  happening 
by  death  or  otherwise,  should  be  filled  by  themselves,  without 
any  application  to  constituents  at  all. 

4.  "Because  a  single  Assembly  possessed  of  all  the  powers  of 
government  would  make  arbitrary  laws  for  their  own  interest, 
and  adjudge  all  controversies  in  their  own  favor."  f 

If  any  thing  could  be  necessary  upon  this  subject,  after  such 
an  authority,  I  might  here  add,  that  Montesquieu — Harrington 

*  A  Committee  of  the  Convention,  which  formed  the  Constitution 
of  Pennsylvania,  published  in  the  Pennsylvania  Packet  of  October  15, 
1776,  as  an  apology  for  one  of  their  Ordinances,  that  was  thought  to  be 
arbitrary  and  unjust,  that  it  was  passed  when  "the  minds  of  the  Convention 
were  agitated,  and  their  passions  inflamed." 

t  These  reasons  are  given  by  our  author  for  not  lodging  all  power 
legislative,  executive  and  judicial,  in  one  body  of  men.  This  has  been 
done,  as  will  be  shown  hereafter  in  the  Constitution  of  Pennsylvania:  But, 
supposing  it  had  been  otherwise,  our  author  adds,  "shall  the  whole  power 
of  legislation  rest  in  one  Assembly?  Most  of  the  foregoing  reasons  (one 
is  omitted)  apply  equally  to  prove,  that  the  whole  legislative  power  ought 
to  be  more  complex." 


ON  GOOD  GOVERNMENT  59 

— Milton — Addison — Price — Bolingbroke,  and  others,  the  wisest 
statesmen,  and  the  greatest  friends  to  Liberty  in  the  world,  have 
left  testimonies  upon  record  of  the  extreme  folly  and  danger  of 
a  people's  being  governed  by  a  single  legislature.  I  shall  content 
myself  with  the  following  extract  from  the  last  of  those  authors. 
The  sentiments  correspond  exactly  with  those  of  our  country- 
man before-mentioned. 

"By  simple  forms  of  government,  I  mean  such  as  lodge  the 
whole  supreme  power,  absolutely  and  without  control,  either  in 
a  single  person,  or  in  the  principal  persons  of  the  community,  or 
in  the  whole  body  of  the  people.  Such  governments  are  gov- 
ernments of  arbitrary  will,  and  therefore  of  all  imaginable  ab- 
surdities the  most  absurd.  They  stand  in  direct  opposition  to  the 
sole  motive  of  submission  to  any  government  whatsoever;  for  if 
men  quit  the  State,  and  renounce  the  rights  of  nature,  (one  of 
which  is,  to  be  sure,  that  of  being  governed  by  their  own  will) 
they  do  this,  that  they  may  not  remain  exposed  to  the  arbitrary 
will  of  other  men,  the  weakest  to  that  of  the  strongest,  the  few 
to  that  of  the  many.  Now,  in  submitting  to  any  single  form  of 
government  whatever,  they  establish  what  they  mean  to  avoid, 
and  for  fear  of  being  exposed  to  arbitrary  will  sometimes,  they 
choose  to  be  governed  by  it  always.  These  governments  do  not 
only  degenerate  into  tyranny;  they  are  tyranny  in  their  very 
institution;  and  they  who  submit  to  them,  are  slaves,  not  subjects, 
however  the  supreme  power  may  be  exercised;  for  tyranny  and 
slavery  do  not  so  properly  consist  in  the  stripes  that  are  given  and 
received,  as  in  the  power  of  giving  them  at  pleasure,  and  the 
necessity  of  receiving  them,  whenever  and  for  whatever  they 
are  inflicted." 

I  might  go  on  further  and  show,  that  all  the  dissentions  of 
Athens  and  Rome,  so  dreadful  in  their  nature,  and  so  fatal  in 
their  consequences,  originated  in  single  Assemblies  possessing 
all  the  power  of  those  commonwealths;  but  this  would  be  the 
business  of  a  volume,  and  not  of  a  single  essay. — I  shall  therefore 
pass  on,  to  answer  the  various  arguments  that  have  been  used 
in  Pennsylvania,  in  support  of  a  single  legislature.' 


60        SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

1.  We  are  told,  that  the  perfection  of  every  thing  consists  in 
its  simplicity, — that  all  mixtures  in  government  are  impurities, 
and  that  a  single  legislature  is  perfect,  because  it  is  simple. — To 
this  I  answer,  that  we  should  distinguish  between  simplicity  in 
principles,  and  simplicity  in  the  application  of  principles  to  prac- 
tice. What  can  be  more  simple  than  the  principles  of  mechanics, 
and  yet  into  how  many  thousand  forms  have  they  been  tortured 
by  the  ingenuity  of  man.  A  few  simple  elementary  bodies  com- 
pose all  the  matter  of  the  universe,  and  yet  how  infinitely  are 
they  combined  in  the  various  forms  and  substances  which  they 
assume  in  the  animal,  vegetable,  and  mineral  kingdoms.  In  like 
manner  a  few  simple  principles  enter  into  the  composition  of  all 
free  governments.  These  principles  are  perfect  security  for  prop- 
erty, liberty  and  life;  but  these  principles  admit  of  extensive 
combinations,  when  reduced  to  practice: — Nay  more,  they  re- 
quire them.  A  despotic  government  is  the  most  simple  govern- 
ment in  the  world,  but  instead  of  affording  security  to  property, 
liberty  or  life,  it  obliges  us  to  hold  them  all  on  the  simple  will 
of  a  capricious  sovereign.  I  maintain  therefore,  that  all  govern- 
ments are  safe  and  free  in  proportion  as  they  are  compounded 
in  a  certain  degree,  and  on  the  contrary,  that  all  governments  are 
dangerous  and  tyrannical  in  proportion  as  they  approach  to 
simplicity. 

2.  We  are  told  by  the  friends  of  a  single  legislature,  that 
there  can  be  no  danger  of  their  becoming  tyrannical,  since  they 
must  partake  of  all  the  burdens  they  lay  upon  their  constituents. 
Here  we  forget  the  changes  that  are  made  upon  the  head  and 
heart  by  arbitrary  power,  and  the  cases  that  are  recorded  in 
history  of  annual  Assemblies  having  refused  to  share  with  their 
constituents  in  the  burdens  which  they  had  imposed  upon  them. 
If  every  elector  in  Pennsylvania  is  capable  of  being  elected  an 
assembly-man,  then  agreeably  to  the  sixth  section  of  the  Con- 
stitution, it  is  possible  for  an  Assembly  to  exist  who  do  not 
possess  a  single  foot  of  property  in  the  State,  and  who  can  give 
no  other  evidence  of  a  common  interest  in,  or  attachment  to,  the 
community  than  having  paid  "public  taxes,"  which  may  mean 


ON  GOOD  GOVERNMENT  61 

poor-taxes.  Should  this  be  the  case,  (and  there  is  no  obstacle 
in  the  Constitution  to  prevent  it)  surely  it  will  be  in  the  power 
of  such  an  Assembly  to  draw  from  the  State  the  whole  of  its 
wealth  ih  a  few  years,  without  contributing  any  thing  further 
towards  it  than  their  proportion  of  the  trifling  tax  necessary  to 
support  the  poor. — But  I  shall  show  in  another  place  equal 
dangers  from  another  class  of  men,  becoming  a  majority  in  the 
Assembly. 

3.  We  are  told  of  instances  of  the  House  of  Lords,  in  Eng- 
land, checking  the  most  salutary  laws,  after  they  had  passed  the 
House  of  Commons,  as  a  proof  of  the  inconvenience  of  a  com- 
pound legislature.  I  believed  the  fact  to  be  true,  but  I  deny  its 
application  in  the  present  controversy.  The  House  of  Lords, 
in  England,  possess  privileges  and  interests,  which  do  not  belong 
to  the  House  of  Commons.  Moreover  they  derive  their  power 
from  the  crown  and  not  from  the  people.  No  wonder  therefore 
they  consult  their  own  interests,  in  preference  to  those  of  the 
People.  In  the  State  of  Pennsylvania  we  wish  for  a  council,  with 
no  one  exclusive  privilege,  and  we  disclaim  every  idea  of  their 
possessing  the  smallest  degree  of  power,  but  what  is  derived 
from  the  annwl  suffrages  of  the  People.  A  body  thus  chosen 
could  have  no  object  in  view  but  the  happiness  of  their  con- 
stituents. It  is  remarkable  in  Connecticut,  that  the  legislative 
council  of  that  State  has  in  no  one  instance  made  amendments, 
or  put  a  negative  upon  the  acts  of  their  Assembly,  in  the  course 
of  above  one  hundred  years,  in  which  both  have  not  appeared 
to  the  people  in  a  few  months  to  have  been  calculated  to  pro- 
mote their  liberty  and  happiness. 

4.  We  are  told,  that  the  Congress  is  a  single  legislature,  there- 
fore a  single  legislature  is  to  be  preferred  to  a  compound  one. — 
The  objects  of  legislation  in  the  Congress  relate  only  to  peace 
and  war,  alliances,  trade,  the  Post-Office,  and  the  government 
of  the  army  and  navy.  They  never  touch  the  liberty,  property, 
nor  life  of  the  individuals  of  any  State  in  their  resolutions,  and 
even  in  their  ordinary  subjects  of  legislation,  they  are  liable  to 
be  checked  by  each  of  the  Thirteen  States. 


62         SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

5.  We  have  been  told,  that  a  legislative  council  or  governor 
lays  the  foundation  for  aristocratical  and  monarchical  power  in 
a  community.  However  ridiculous  this  objection  to  a  compound 
legislature  may  appear,  I  have  more  than  once  heard  "it  men- 
tioned by  the  advocates  for  a  single  Assembly.  Who  would 
believe,  that  the  same  fountain  of  pure  water  should  send  forth, 
at  the  same  time,  wholesome  and  deadly  streams?  Are  not  the 
Council  and  Assembly  both  formed  alike  by  the  annual  breath 
of  the  people?  But  I  will  suppose,  that  a  legislative  Council  as- 
pired after  the  honors  of  hereditary  titles  and  power,  would  they 
not  be  effectually  checked  by  the  Assembly? 

I  cannot  help  commending  the  zeal  that  appears  in  my 
countrymen  against  the  power  of  a  King  or  a  House  of  Lords. 
I  concur  with  them  in  all  their  prejudices  against  hereditary 
titles,  honour  and  power.  History  is  little  else  than  a  recital 
of  the  follies  and  vices  of  kings  and  noblemen,  and  it  is  because 
I  dread  so  much  from  them,  that  I  wish  to  exclude  them  for 
ever  from  Pennsylvania,  for  notwithstanding  our  government 
has  been  called  a  simple  democracy,  I  maintain,  that  a  foundation 
is  laid  in  it  for  the  most  complete  aristocracy  that  ever  existed 
in  the  world. 

In  order  to  prove  this  assertion,  I  shall  premise  two  propo- 
sitions, which  have  never  been  controverted:  First,  where  there 
is  wealth,  there  will  be  power;  and,  secondly,  the  rich  have 
always  been  an  over-match  for  the  poor  in  all  contests  for  power. 

These  truths  being  admitted,  I  desire  to  know  what  can  pre- 
vent our  single  representation  being  filled,  in  the  course  of  a 
few  years,  with  a  majority  of  rich  men?  Say  not,  the  people  will 
not  choose  such  men  to  represent  them.  The  influence  of  wealth 
at  elections  is  irresistible.  It  has  been  seen  and  felt  in  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  I  am  obliged  in  justice  to  my  subject  to  say,  that 
there  are  poor  men  among  us  as  prepared  to  be  influenced,  as 
the  rich  are  prepared  to  influence  them.  The  fault  must  be  laid 
in  both  cases  upon  human  nature.  The  consequence  of  a  major- 
ity of  rich  men  getting  into  the  legislature  is  plain.  Their  wealth 
will  administer  fuel  to  the  love  of  arbitrary  power  that  is  com- 


ON  GOOD  GOVERNMENT  63 

mon  to  all  men.  The  present  Assembly  have  furnished  them 
with  precedents  for  breaking  the  Constitution.  Farewell  now  to 
annual  elections!  Public  emergencies  will  sanctify  the  most  dar- 
ing measures.  The  clamours  of  their  constituents  will  be  silenced 
with  offices,  bribes  or  punishments.  An  aristocracy  will  be  estab- 
lished, and  Pennsylvania  will  be  inhabited  like  most  of  the 
countries  in  Europe,  with  only  two  sorts  of  animals,  tyrants  and 
slaves. 

It  has  often  been  said,  that  there  is  but  one  rank  of  men  in 
America,  and  therefore,  that  there  should  be  only  one  repre- 
sentation of  them  in  a  government.  I  agree,  that  we  have  no 
artificial  distinctions  of  men  into  noblemen  and  commoners 
among  us,  but  it  ought  to  be  remarked,  that  superior  degrees 
of  industry  and  capacity,  and  above  all,  commerce,  have  intro- 
duced inequality  of  property  among  us,  and  these  have  intro- 
duced natural  distinctions  of  rank  in  Pennsylvania,  as  certain 
and  general  as  the  artificial  distinctions  of  men  in  Europe.  This 
will  ever  be  the  case  while  commerce  exists  in  this  country.  The 
men  of  middling  property  and  poor  men  can  never  be  safe  in  a 
mixed  representation  with  the  men  of  over-grown  property. 
Their  liberties  can  only  be  secured  by  having  exact  bounds  pre- 
scribed to  their  power,  in  the  fundamental  principles  of  the  Con- 
stitution. By  a  representation  of  the  men  of  middling  fortunes  in 
one  house,  their  whole  strength  is  collected  against  the  influence 
of  wealth.  Without  such  a  representation,  the  most  violent  efforts 
of  individuals  to  oppose  it  would  be  divided  and  broken,  and 
would  want  that  system,  which  alone  would  enable  them  to 
check  that  lust  for  dominion  which  is  always  connected  with 
opulence.  The  government  of  Pennsylvania  therefore  has  been 
called  most  improperly  a  government  for  poor  men.  It  carries 
in  every  part  of  it  a  poison  to  their  liberties.  It  is  impossible  to 
form  a  government  more  suited  to  the  passions  and  interests  of 
rich  men. 

6.  But  says  the  advocate  for  a  single  legislature,  if  one  of  the 
advantages  of  having  a  Legislative  Council  arises  from  the  Coun- 
sellors possessing  more  wisdom  than  the  Assembly,  why  may  not 


64        SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

the  members  of  the  Council  be  thrown  into  the  Assembly,  in 
order  to  instruct  and  enlighten  them?  If  sound  reasoning  always 
prevailed  in  popular  Assemblies,  this  objection  to  a  Legislative 
Council  might  have  some  weight.  The  danger  in  this  case  would 
be,  that  the  Counsellors  would  partake  of  the  passions  and  preju- 
dices of  the  Assembly,  by  taking  part  in  their  debates;  or,  if  they 
did  not,  that  they  would  be  so  inconsiderable  in  point  of  num- 
bers, that  they  would  be  constantly  out-voted  by  the  members 
of  the  Assembly. 

7.  But  would  you  suffer  twenty  or  thirty  men  in  a  Legisla- 
tive Council  to  control  seventy  or  eighty  in  an  Assembly?  Yes, 
and  that  for  two  reasons:  First,  I  shall  suppose  that  they  will 
consist  of  men  of  the  most  knowledge  and  experience  in  the 
State:  Secondly,  that  their  obligations  to  wisdom  and  integrity 
will  be  much  stronger  than  the  Assembly's  can  be,  because 
fewer  men  will  be  answerable  for  unjust  or  improper  proceed- 
ings at  the  bar  of  the  public.  But  I  beg  pardon  of  my  readers 
for  introducing  an  answer  to  an  objection  to  a  small  number 
of  men  controlling  the  proceedings  of  a  greater.  The  friends  of 
the  present  Constitution  of  Pennsylvania  cannot  urge  this  ob- 
jection with  any  force,  for  in  the  47 th  section  of  the  Constitution 
I  find  twenty-four  men  called  a  COUNCIL  of  CENSORS,  invested 
with  a  supreme  and  uncontrolled  power  to  revise  and  to  censure 
all  the  laws  and  proceedings  of  not  a  single  Assembly,  but  of  all 
the  Assemblies  that  shall  exist  for  seven  years,  which  Assemblies 
may  contain  the  united  wisdom  of  five  hundred  and  four  Assem- 
bly-men. They  are  moreover,  invested  with  more  wisdom  than 
the  Convention  that  is  to  be  chosen  by  their  recommendation; 
for  this  Convention,  which  is  to  consist  of  seventy-two  men,  is 
to  make  no  one  alteration  in  the  Constitution  but  what  was 
suggested  to  them  by  the  Council  of  Censors.  I  can  easily  con- 
ceive that  two  houses  consisting  of  an  unequal  number  of  mem- 
bers, both  viewing  objects  through  the  same  medium  of  time  and 
place,  may  agree  in  every  thing  essential,  and  disagree  in  matters 
only  of  doubtful  issue  to  the  welfare  of  the  state;  but  I  am  sure, 
a  body  of  twenty-four  men  sitting  in  judgment  upon  the  pro- 


ON  GOOD  GOVERNMENT  65 

ceedings  of  a  body  of  men  defunct  in  their  public  capacity  seven 
years  before  them,  cannot  fail  of  committing  the  most  egregious 
mistakes  from  the  obscurity  which  time,  and  their  ignorance  of 
a  thousand  facts  and  reasonings  must  throw  upon  all  their  de- 
liberations. But  more  of  the  arbitrary  power  of  the  Censors 
hereafter. 

8.  We  are  told  that  the  State  of  Pennsylvania  has  always 
been  governed  by  a  single  legislature,  and  therefore,  that  part 
of  our  Constitution  is  not  an  innovation.  There  is  a  short  way 
of  confuting  this  assertion  by  pronouncing  it  without  any  foun- 
dation. The  Governor  always  had  a  negative  power  upon  our 
laws,  and  was  a  distinct  branch  of  our  legislature.  It  is  true,  he 
sometimes  exercised  his  power  to  the  disadvantage  of  the  people; 
for  he  was  the  servant  of  a  King  who  possessed  an  interest  dis- 
tinct from  that  of  his  people,  and  in  some  cases  the  Governor  him- 
self possessed  an  interest  incompatible  with  the  rights  of  the 
people.  God  forbid  that  ever  we  should  see  a  resurrection  of  his 
power  in  Pennsylvania,  but  I  am  obliged  to  own,  that  I  have 
known  instances  in  which  the  whole  state  have  thanked  him  for 
the  interposition  of  his  negative  and  amendments  upon  the  acts 
of  the  Assembly.  Even  the  Assembly-men  themselves  have  ac- 
knowledged the  justice  of  his  conduct  upon  these  occasions,  by 
condemning  in  their  cooler  hours  their  own  hasty,  and  ill- 
digested  resolutions. 

9.  But  why  all  these  arguments  in  favor  of  checks  for  the 
Assembly.  The  Constitution  (says  the  single  legislative-man)  has 
provided  no  less  than  four  for  them.  First,  Elections  will  be 
annual.  Secondly,  The  doors  of  the  Assembly  are  to  be  always 
open.  Thirdly,  All  laws  are  to  be  published  for  the  consideration 
and  assent  of  the  people:  And,  Fourthly,  The  Council  of  Cen- 
sors will  punish,  by  their  censures,  all  violations  of  the  Constitu- 
tion, and  the  authors  of  bad  laws.  I  shall  examine  the  efficacy  of 
each  of  these  checks  separately. 

I  hope,  for  the  peace  of  the  state,  that  we  shall  never  see  a 
body  of  men  in  power  more  attached  to  the  present  Constitution 
than  the  present  Assembly,  and  if,  with  all  their  affection  for  it, 


66         SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

they  have  broken  it  in  many  articles,  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose 
that  future  Assemblies  will  use  the  same  freedoms  with  it.  They 
may,  if  they  chuse,  abolish  annual  elections. J  They  may  tell  their 
constituents  that  elections  draw  off  the  minds  of  the  people  from 
necessary  labour;  or,  if  a  war  should  exist,  they  may  show  the  im- 
possibility of  holding  elections  when  there  is  a  chance  of  the 
militia  being  called  into  the  field  to  oppose  a  common  enemy: 
Or  lastly,  they  may  fetter  elections  with  oaths  in  such  a  manner 
as  to  exclude  nine-tenths  of  the  electors  from  voting.  Such 
stratagems  for  perpetual  power  will  never  want  men  nor  a  society 
of  men  to  support  them;  for  the  Assembly  possesses  such  a  pleni- 
tude of  power  from  the  influence  of  the  many  offices  of  profit 
and  honour  *  that  are  in  their  gift,  that  they  may  always  promise 
themselves  support  from  a  great  part  of  the  state.  But  I  will 
suppose  that  no  infringement  is  ever  made  upon  annual  elections. 
In  the  course  of  even  one  year  a  single  Assembly  may  do  the 
most  irreparable  mischief  to  a  state.  Socrates  and  Barnevelt  were 
both  put  to  death  by  Assemblies  that  held  their  powers  at  the 
election  of  the  people.  The  same  Assemblies  would  have  shed 
oceans  of  tears  to  have  recalled  those  illustrious  citizens  to  life 
again,  in  less  than  half  a  year  after  they  imbrued  their  hands  in 
their  blood. 

I  am  highly  pleased  with  having  the  doors  of  our  Assembly 
kept  constantly  open;  but  how  can  this  check  the  proceedings 
of  the  Assembly,  when  none  but  a  few  citizens  of  the  town  or 
county,  where  the  Assembly  sits,  or  a  few  travelling  strangers, 
can  ever  attend  or  watch  them? 

£  The  late  Convention  was  chosen  for  the  sole  purpose  of  making  a 
government,  and  was  composed  of  honest,  well-meaning  men,  and  yet,  I 
have  good  authority  to  say,  that  several  of  them  proposed  to  their  friends 
forming  themselves  into  an  Assembly,  to  execute  the  government. 

*  The  President  is  appointed  chiefly  by  the  Assembly.  His  salary, 
together  with  the  salaries  of  the  Judges,  are  fixed  by  the  Assembly.  Dele- 
gates in  Congress,  the  Lieutenants  and  Sub-Lieutenants  of  counties,  Proton- 
otaries,  Registers  of  Wills,  Money-Signers,  &c.  &c.  are  all  appointed  solely 
by  the  Assembly.  Each  of  these  officers  brings  with  him  the  influence 
of  his  friends  and  family-connections.  When  collected  together,  they 
make  a  little  army  of  placemen. 


ON  GOOD  GOVERNMENT  67 

I  shall  take  no  notice  of  the  delays  of  business,  which  must 
arise  from  publishing  all  laws  for  the  consideration  and  assent 
of  the  people;  but  I  beg  to  be  informed  bow  long  they  must  be 
published  before  they  are  passed?  For  I  take  it  for  granted,  that 
each  county  has  a  right  to  equal  degrees  of  time  to  consider  of 
the  laws.  In  what  manner  are  they  to  be  circulated?  How  are 
the  sentiments  of  the  people,  scattered  over  a  county  fifty  or  sixty 
miles  in  extent,  to  be  collected?  Whether  by  ballot,  or  by  voting 
in  a  tumultuary  manner?  These  are  insurmountable  difficulties 
in  the  way  of  the  people  at  large  acting  as  a  check  upon  the 
Assembly.  But  supposing  an  attempt  should  be  made  to  restrain 
the  single  legislature  in  this  manner,  are  we  sure  the  disapproba- 
tion of  the  people  would  be  sufficient  to  put  a  negative  upon 
improper  or  arbitrary  laws?  Would  not  the  Assembly,  from  their 
partiality  to  their  own  proceedings,  be  apt  to  pass  over  the  com- 
plaints of  the  people  in  silence?  to  neglect  or  refuse  to  enter 
their  petitions  or  remonstrances  upon  their  Journals?  or  to  raise 
the  hue  and  cry  of  a  fostered  junto  upon  them,  as  "Tories"  or 
"apostate  Whigs"  or  "an  aristocratic  faction?" 

To  talk  of  the  Councils  of  Censors,  as  a  check  upon  the 
Assembly,  is  to  forget  that  a  man  or  a  body  of  men  may  deceive, 
rob,  and  enslave  the  public  for  seven  years,  and  then  may  escape 
the  intended  efficacy  of  the  censures  of  the  Council  by  death,  or 
by  flying  into  a  neighbouring  state. 

10.  We  are  informed  that  a  single  legislature  was  supported 
in  the  Convention  by  Dr.  Franklin,  and  assented  to  by  Mr.  Rit- 
tenhouse;  gentlemen  distinguished  for  their  uncommon  abilities, 
and  deservedly  dear  for  their  virtues  to  every  lover  of  human 
nature.  The  only  answer,  after  what  has  been  said,  that  I  shall 
give  to  this  argument,  is,  that  Divine  Providence  seems  to  have 
permitted  them  to  err  upon  this  subject,  in  order  to  console  the 
world  for  the  very  great  superiority  they  both  possess  over  the 
rest  of  mankind  in  every  thing  else,  except  the  science  of  gov- 
ernment. 

Thus  have  I  answered  all  the  arguments  that  ever  I  have  heard 
offered  in  favour  of  a  single  legislature,  and  I  hope,  silenced  all 


68         SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

the  objections  that  have  been  made  to  a  double  representation 
of  the  people.  I  might  here  appeal  further  to  the  practice  of 
our  courts  of  law  in  favour  of  repeated  deliberations  and  divi- 
sions. In  a  free  government,  the  most  inconsiderable  portion  of 
our  liberty  and  property  cannot  be  taken  from  us,  without  the 
judgment  of  two  or  three  courts;  but,  by  the  Constitution  of 
Pennsylvania,  the  whole  of  our  liberty  and  property,  and  even 
our  lives,  may  be  taken  from  us,  by  the  hasty  and  passionate  de- 
cision of  a  single  Assembly. 

I  shall  conclude  my  observations  upon  this  part  of  the  Con- 
stitution, by  summing  up  the  advantages  of  a  compound  or 
double  legislature. 

1.  There  is  the  utmost  freedom  in  a  compound  legislature. 
The  decisions  of  two  legislative  bodies  cannot  fail  of  coinciding 
with  the  wills  of  a  great  majority  of  the  community. 

2.  There  is  safety  in  such  a  government,  in  as  much  as  each 
body  possesses  a  free  and  independent  power,  so  that  they  mutu- 
ally check  ambition  and  usurpation  in  each  other. 

3.  There  is  the  greatest  'wisdom  in  such  a  government.  Every 
act  being  obliged  to  undergo  the  revision  and  amendments  of 
two  bodies  of  men,  is  necessarily  strained  of  every  mixture  of 
folly,  passion,  and  prejudice.f 

4.  There  is  the  longest  duration  of  freedom  in  such  a  govern- 
ment.* 

5.  There  is  the  most  order  in  such  a  government.  By  order, 
I  mean  obedience  to  laws,  subordination  to  magistrates,  civility 

fThe  Militia  Law  of  the  Delaware  State  received  twenty-four 
amendments  from  the  Council  after  it  had  had  three  readings  in  the 
Assembly;  all  of  which  were  adopted  at  once  by  the  Assembly.  I  grant, 
the  wisdom  of  men  collected  in  any  way  that  can  be  devised,  cannot 
make  a  perfect  law;  but  I  am  sure  a  Legislative  Council  would  not  have 
overlooked  many  inaccuracies  in  the  laws  passed  in  the  last  session  of 
the  present  Assembly  of  Pennsylvania. 

*  Sparta,  which  possessed  a  compound  legislature,  preserved  her 
liberties  above  five  hundred  years.  The  fatal  dissentions  of  Athens  and 
Rome  ceased  as  soon  as  their  Senates,  which  were  filled  only  with  rich 
men,  were  checked  by  another  Representation  of  the  people. 


ON  GOOD  GOVERNMENT  69 

and  decency  of  behaviour,  and  the  contrary  of  every  thing  like 
mobs  and  factions. 

6.  Compound  governments  are  most  agreeable  to  hitman 
nature,  inasmuch  as  they  afford  the  greatest  scope  for  the  ex- 
pansion of  the  powers  and  virtues  of  the  mind.  Wisdom,  learn- 
ing, experience,  with  the  most  extensive  benevolence,  the  most 
unshaken  firmness,  and  the  utmost  elevation  of  soul,  are  all  called 
into  exercise  by  the  opposite  and  different  duties  of  the  different 
representations  of  the  people. 

Letter  III 

The  powers  of  government  have  been  very  justly  divided 
into  legislative,  executive  and  judicial.  Having  discussed  the 
legislative  power  of  the  government  of  Pennsylvania,  I  shall 
proceed  now  to  consider  the  executive  and  judicial. 

It  is  agreed  on  all  hands  that  the  executive  and  judicial  powers 
of  government  should  be  wholly  independant  of  the  legislative. 
The  authors  of  the  Pennsylvania  Constitution  seem  to  have  given 
their  sanction  to  this  opinion,  by  separating  those  powers  from 
the  powers  of  the  Assembly. — It  becomes  us  to  enquire  whether 
they  have  made  them  so  independant  of  the  Assembly  as  to  give 
them  the  free  exercise  of  their  own  judgments. 

The  insignificant  figure  the  President  and  Council  make  in 
the  Constitution  from  not  having  a  negative  upon  the  laws  of 
the  Assembly,  alone  would  soon  have  destroyed  their  authority 
and  influence  in  the  State.  But  the  authors  of  the  Constitution 
have  taken  pains  to  throw  the  whole  power  of  the  Council  at 
once  into  the  hands  of  the  Assembly,  by  rendering  the  former 
dependant  upon  the  latter  in  the  two  following  particulars. 

1.  The  President  is  chosen  by  the  joint  ballot  of  the  Assembly 
and  Council.  The  Assembly  being  to  the  Council,  in  point  of 
numbers,  as  five  are  to  one,  of  course  chuse  the  President.  Each 
member  will  expect  in  his  turn  to  fill  the  first  chair  in  the  State, 
and  hence  the  whole  Council  will  yield  themselves  up  to  the  will 
of  the  Assembly. 

2.  The  salaries  of  the  President  and  of  each  of  the  Counsellors 


70        SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

are  fixed  by  the  Assembly.  This  will  necessarily  render  them  de- 
pendant upon  them.  It  is  worthy  of  notice  here,  that  a  rotation 
is  established  in  the  ipth  section  of  the  Constitution,  to  "prevent 
the  danger  of  an  inconvenient  aristocracy." — From  what  abuse 
of  power  can  this  aristocracy  arise?  Are  they  not  the  creatures 
of  the  Assembly?  But  there  is  a  magic  terror  in  the  sound  of  a 
Counsellor.  Call  a  man  an  Assemblyman,  or  a  Censor,  and  he 
becomes  an  innocent  creature,  though  you  invest  him  with  the 
despotism  of  an  Eastern  monarch.  If  the  Council  are  dependant 
upon  the  Assembly,  it  follows  of  course  that  the  Judges,  who 
are  appointed  by  the  Council,  are  likewise  dependant  upon  them. 
But  in  order  more  fully  to  secure  their  dependance  upon  the 
will  of  the  Assembly,  they  are  obliged  to  hold  their  salaries  upon 
the  tenure  of  their  will.  In  vain  do  they  hold  tjieir  commissions 
for  seven  years.  This  is  but  the  shadow  of  independance.  They 
cannot  live  upon  the  air,  and  their  absolute  dependance  upon 
the  Assembly  gives  that  body  a  transcendent  influence  over  all 
the  courts  of  law  in  the  State.  Here  then  we  have  discovered 
the  legislative,  executive  and  judicial  powers  of  the  State  all 
blended  together. — The  liberty,  the  property  and  life  of  every 
individual  in  the  State  are  laid  prostrate  by  the  Constitution  at 
the  feet  of  the  Assembly.  This  combination  of  powers  in  one 
body  has  in  all  ages  been  pronounced  a  tyranny.  To  live  by  one 
man's  will  became  the  cause  of  all  men's  misery;  but  better,  far 
better,  would  it  be  to  live  by  the  will  of  one  man,  than  to  live, 
or  rather  to  die,  by  the  will  of  a  body  of  men.  Unhappy  Pennsyl- 
vania! Methinks  I  see  the  scales  of  justice  broken  in  thy  courts. — 
I  see  the  dowry  of  the  widow  and  the  portion  of  the  orphans 
unjustly  taken  from  them,  in  order  to  gratify  the  avarice  of  some 
demagogue  who  rules  the  Assembly  by  his  eloquence  and  arts. — 
I  see  the  scaffolds  streaming  with  the  blood  of  the  wisest  and 
best  men  in  the  State. — I  see  the  offices  of  government  .  .  .  But 
the  prospect  is  too  painful,  I  shall  proceed  to  take  notice  of  some 
other  parts  of  the  Constitution. 

It  was  not  sufficient  to  contaminate  justice  at  its  fountain,  but 
its  smallest  streams  are  made  to  partake  of  impurity  by  the  Con- 


ON  GOOD  GOVERNMENT  71 

vention.  In  the  30th  section  of  the  Constitution  "all  Justices  of 
the  Peace  are  to  be  elected  by  the  freeholders  of  each  city  and 
county."  The  best  observations  that  can  be  made  on  this  part  of 
the  Constitution  is  to  inform  the  public,  that  not  above  one  half 
the  people  of  the  State  chose  magistrates  agreeable  to  the  laws 
of  the  Assembly  for  that  purpose;  that  more  than  one  half  of 
those  that  were  chosen  have  refused  to  accept  of  commissions, 
and  that  many  of  those  who  act  are  totally  disqualified  from 
the  want  of  education  or  leisure  for  the  office. — It  has  been  said 
often,  and  I  wish  the  saying  was  engraven  over  the  doors  of 
every  statehouse  on  the  Continent,  that  "all  power  is  derived 
from  the  people,"  but  it  has  never  yet  been  said  that  all  power 
is  seated  in  the  people.  Government  supposes  and  requires  a 
delegation  of  power:  It  cannot  exist  without  it.  And  the  idea  of 
making  the  people  at  large  judges  of  the  qualifications  necessary 
for  magistrates,  or  judges  of  laws,  or  checks  for  Assemblies  pro- 
ceeds upon  the  supposition  that  mankind  are  all  alike  wise,  and 
just,  and  have  equal  leisure.  It  moreover  destroys  the  necessity 
for  all  government.  What  man  ever  made  himself  his  own  attor- 
ney? And  yet  this  would  not  be  more  absurd  than  for  the  people 
at  large  to  pretend  to  give  up  their  power  to  a  set  of  rulers,  and 
afterwards  reserve  the  right  of  making  and  of  judging  of  all  their 
laws  themselves.  Such  a  government  is  a  monster  in  nature.  It 
contains  as  many  Governors,  Assemblymen,  Judges  and  Magis- 
trates as  there  are  freemen  in  the  State,  all  exercising  the  same 
powers  and  at  the  same  time.  Happy  would  it  be  for  us,  if  this 
monster  was  remarkable  only  for  his  absurdity;  but,  alas!  he 
contains  a  tyrant  in  his  bowels.  All  history  shows  us  that  the 
people  soon  grow  weary  of  the  folly  and  tyranny  of  one  another. 
They  prefer  one  to  many  masters,  and  stability  to  instability  of 
slavery.  They  prefer  a  Julius  Caesar  to  a  Senate,  and  a  Cromwell 
to  a  perpetual  Parliament. 

I  cannot  help  thinking  a  mistake  lays  rather  in  words  than 
ideas  when  we  talk  of  the  rights  of  the  people.  Where  is  the 
difference  between  my  choosing  a  Justice  of  Peace,  and  my 
choosing  an  Assemblyman  and  a  Counsellor,  by  whose  joint 


72         SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

suffrages  a  Governor  is  chosen,  who  appoints  a  Justice  for  me? 
I  am  still  the  first  link  of  the  sacred  chain  of  the  power  of  the 
State.  But  are  there  no  cases  in  which  I  may  be  bound  by  acts 
of  a  single,  or  of  a  body  of  magistrates  in  the  State,  whom  I  have 
had  no  hand  in  choosing?  Yes,  there  are.  Here  then  I  am  bound 
contrary  to  the  principles  of  liberty  (which  consist  in  a  man 
being  governed  by  men  chosen  by  himself),  whereas  if  all  the 
magistrates  in  the  State  were  appointed  by  the  Governor,  or 
executive  part  of  the  State,  it  would  be  impossible  for  me  to 
appear  before  the  bar  of  a  magistrate  any  where  who  did  not 
derive  his  power  originally  from  me. 

By  the  5th  section  all  militia  officers  below  the  rank  of  a 
Brigadier  General  are  to  be  chosen  by  the  people.  Most  of  the 
objections  that  have  been  mentioned  against  magistrates  being 
chosen  by  the  people,  apply  with  equal  force  against  the  people's 
choosing  their  military  officers.  By  the  militia  law  of  this  State 
we  find  the  soldier  ceases  to  be  commanded  by  the  officer  of  his 
choice  as  soon  as  he  comes  in  the  field.  He  might  as  well  be 
commanded  by  an  officer  of  another  State  as  by  one  of  his  own 
States,  for  whom  he  did  not  vote.  Had  he  been  appointed  by  the 
executive  power  of  the  government,  he  might  have  looked  upon 
him  originally  as  the  creature  of  his  own  power,  and  might  have 
claimed  his  care  in  the  camp,  from  his  influence  at  elections,  in 
moving  those  springs  in  government,  from  which  he  derived  his 
commission.  But  the  unsuitableness  of  this  part  of  the  Constitu- 
tion to  the  genius  of  the  people  of  Pennsylvania,  will  appear 
in  the  strongest  point  of  light,  from  attending  to  the  two  fol- 
lowing facts:  ist:  Most  of  the  irregularities  committed  by  the 
militia,  that  were  in  service  last  year,  were  occasioned  by  that 
laxity  of  discipline,  which  was  introduced  and  kept  up  by  officers 
holding  their  commissions  by  the  breath  of  the  people:  And 
idly,  Above  one  half  of  the  State  have  refused  or  neglected  to 
choose  officers,  agreeably  to  the  recommendation  of  the  Assem- 
bly.— And  even  in  many  of  those  places,  where  elections  for 
officers  have  been  held,  Colonels  have  been  chosen  by  forty  and 
Captains  and  Subalterns  by  only  four  or  five  votes. 


ON  GOOD  GOVERNMENT  73 

In  the  22d  section  of  the  Constitution  it  is  said,  "every  officer 
of  the  state,  whether  judicial  or  executive,  shall  be  liable  to  be 
impeached  by  the  General  Assembly,  before  the  President  and 
Council,  either  when  in  office  or  after  his  resignation  or  removal 
for  maladministration."  Why  is  a  man  in  this  case  to  be  deprived 
of  a  trial  by  jury?  and  what  is  the  reason  that  no  time  is  fixed 
for  the  commencement  of  this  impeachment  after  resignation  or 
removal  for  maladministration?  A  judicial  or  military  officer 
may  be  innocent,  and  yet,  from  the  delay  of  his  trial  for  six  or 
seven  years,  he  may  be  deprived  by  death  or  other  ways  of  the 
vouchers  of  his  innocence.  Woe  to  the  man  that  ever  holds  one 
of  the  high  offices  of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania!  He  must  ever, 
after  his  resignation,  hold  his  life  at  the  pleasure  of  the  orator 
who  rules  the  Assembly.  The  least  mark  of  disrespect  shown 
to  him,  or  to  any  of  the  Assembly,  rouses  the  Constitution  and 
laws  of  his  country  against  him;  and  perhaps,  after  an  interval 
of  twenty  or  thirty  years  conscious  integrity,  his  grey  hairs  are 
dragged  with  sorrow  to  the  grave.  Let  not  this  be  thought  to 
be  too  high  a  picture  of  this  part  of  the  Constitution  of  Pennsyl- 
vania. It  is  a  picture  of  human  nature  in  similar  circumstances, 
in  every  age  and  country.  Men  possessed  of  unlimited  and  un- 
controlled power  are  beasts  of  prey. 

But  is  there  no  power  lodged  in  the  Constitution  to  alter 
these  imperfections?  Has  our  Convention  monopolized  all  the 
wisdom  of  succeeding  years,  so  as  to  preclude  any  improvements 
being  made  in  the  infant  science  of  government?  Must  we  groan 
away  our  lives  in  a  patient  submission  to  all  the  evils  in  the  Con- 
stitution which  have  been  described?  Let  the  47th  and  last  section 
of  the  Constitution  answer  these  questions.  By  this  section  it  is 
declared,  that  after  the  expiration  of  seven  years,  there  shall  "be 
chosen  two  men  from  each  city  and  county,  (a  majority  of  whom 
shall  be  a  quorum  in  every  case,  except  as  to  calling  a  Conven- 
tion) who  shall  be  called  a  Council  of  Censors,  and  who  shall 
have  power  to  call  a  Convention  within  two  years  after  their 
sitting,  if  there  appears  to  them  an  absolute  necessity  of  amend- 
ing any  article  of  the  Constitution  which  may  be  defective,  ex- 


74        SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

plaining  such  as  may  be  thought  not  clearly  expressed,  and  of 
-adding  such  as  are  necessary  for  the  preservation  of  the  rights 
and  happiness  of  the  people."  From  this  paragraph  it  is  evident, 
that  the  Constitution  was  thought  to  be  the  perfection  of  human 
wisdom,  and  that  the  authors  of  it  intended  that  it  should  last 
for  ever.  Every  section  of  the  Constitutional  believe,  was  de- 
termined by  a  majority  of  the  Members  of  the  Convention,  and 
in  the  nth  section  of  the  Constitution  we  find,  that  if  only  two- 
thirds  of  the  people  concur  in  the  execution  of  it,  the  members 
of  Assembly  chosen  by  them,  are  to  "possess  all  the  powers  of 
the  General  Assembly  as  fully  and  amply  as  if  the  whole  were 
present."  This  is  strictly  agreeable  to  the  principles  of  good 
government;  but,  why  are  these  principles  to  be  trampled  upon, 
when  the  great  question  is  to  be  agitated,  whether  the  Constitu- 
tion shall  be  altered?  For,  unless  every  county  and  city  in  the 
State  concur  in  electing  Censors,  and  unless  tnjoo  thirds  of  them 
agree  in  calling  a  Convention,  there  is  no  possibility  of  obtaining 
an  alteration  of  a  single  article  of  the  Constitution.  If  the  Assem- 
bly had  not  taught  us  that  it  was  neither  treason  nor  perjury  to 
break  the  Constitution,  I  am  sure  it  would  havex  remained  in- 
violate for  ever;  for  I  am  persuaded  that  several  of  the  counties 
would  have  refused  to  have  chosen  Censors.  But  suppose  they 
had,  if  only  one  short  of  two  thirds  of  them  refused  to  agree  in 
the  measure,  we  could  have  no  Convention.  The  minority  would 
give  laws  to  a  majority.  A  solecism  in  government!  But  there  is 
no  end  to  the  tyranny 'and  absurdity  of  our  Constitution. 

But  the  Council  of  Censors  have  not  yet  finished  their 
business.  They  are  empowered  by  the  Constitution  "to  enquire, 
whether  the  Constitution  has  been  preserved  inviolate  in  every 
part?  and  whether  the  legislative  and  executive  branches  of  gov- 
ernment have  performed  their  duty,  as  guardians  of  the  people; 
or  assumed  to  themselves,  or  exercised  other  or  greater  powers 
than  they  are  entitled  to  by  the  Constitution:  They  are  also  to 
enquire,  whether  the  public  taxes  have  been  justly  laid  and  col- 
lected in  all  parts  of  this  commonwealth; — in  what  manner 
the  public  monies  have  been  disposed  of,  and  whether  the  laws 


ON  GOOD  GOVERNMENT  75 

have  been  duly  executed:  For  these  purposes  they  shall  have 
power  to  send  for  persons,  papers  and  records;  they  shall  have 
authority  to  pass  public  censures,  and  to  recommend  to  the  legis- 
lature, the  repealing  such  laws  as  appear  to  them  to  have  been 
enacted  contrary  to  the  principles  of  the  Constitution:  These 
powers  they  shall  continue  to  have  for,  and  during  the  space 
of  one  year,  from  the  day  of  their  election,  and  no  longer." 

Is  this  the  commission  of  the  Grand  Turk?  or  is  it  an  extract 
from  an  act  of  the  British  Parliament,  teeming  with  vengeance 
against  the  liberties  of  America? — No. — It  is  an  epitome  of  the 
powers  of  the  Council  of  Censors  established  by  the  late  Con- 
vention of  Pennsylvania.  Innocence  has  nothing  to  fear  from 
justice,  when  it  flows  through  the  regular  channels  of  law;  but 
where  is  the  man  who  can  ensure  himself  a  moment's  safety 
from  a  body  of  men  invested  with  absolute  power  for  one  whole 
year  to  censure  and  condemn,  without  judge  or  jury,  every  in- 
dividual in  the  State.  I  shall  suppose  the  Council  to  consist  of 
a  majority  of  those  Members  of  Assembly,  who  took  the  oath 
of  allegiance  to  the  Constitution,  and  who  voted,  that  no  officer 
should  be  excused  from  taking  it,  who  accepted  of  a  militia- 
commission  under  the  authority  of  this  State.  I  shall  suppose 
them  assembled  for  the  business  of  their  office.  The  work  of  an 
age  is  to  be  performed  in  a  single  year. — Methinks  I  see  such  of 
those  worthy  gentlemen  as  are  living,  who,  for  the  sake  of  union, 
consented  to  dispense  with  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  Con- 
stitution, led  like  criminals  to  their  bar. — I  hear  peals  of  wrath 
denounced  against  them.  I  see  those  virtuous  gentlemen,  who 
composed  the  Executive  Council  in  the  year  1777,  summoned 
to  appear  at  their  tribunal,  to  answer  for  their  having  abdicated 
the  duties  of  their  office,  by  an  adjournment,  at  a  time  when 
the  State  was  threatened  with  an  invasion.  In  vain  they  plead, 
that  the  Constitution  had  invested  them  with  no  power  for  the 
defence  of  the  State.  Their  names  and  their  families  are  branded 
with  infamy  by  a  "public  censure."  I  see  hundreds  and  thousands 
coming,  one  after  another,  before  the  Council,  to  be  censured 
for  refusing  to  choose  magistrates  and  militia-officers,  agreeably 


76        SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

to  the  laws  of  the  Assembly.  But  who  are  they  who  are  dragged 
with  so  much  violence  to  the  inquisitorial  tribunal?  They  are 
a  number  of  citizens  who  prayed  for  some  alterations  to  be  made 
in  the  Constitution.  In  vain  they  plead  the  obligations  of  reason 
and  conscience  against  submitting  to  the  government.  In  vain 
they  plead  their  zeal  and  services  in  the  common  cause  of 
America.  It  is  all  to  no  purpose.  They  recommend  to  the  Assem- 
bly to  impeach  them  for  high  treason.  They  are  condemned  as 
traitors,  and  the  streets  swim  with  their  blood. — Good  heavens! 
where  was  the  mild  genius  of  Pennsylvania,  when  this  part  of  the 
Constitution  obtained  the  assent  of  the  Convention?  .  .  .  Spirit 
of  liberty,  whither  wast  thou  fled?  .  .  . 

But  perhaps  the  Constitution  has  provided  a  remedy  for  its 
defects,  without  the  aid  of  the  Council  of  Censors?  No — this 
cannot  be  done;  for  every  Member  of  Assembly,  before  he  takes 
his  seat,  is  obliged,  by  the  loth  section  of  the  Constitution,  to 
swear  that  he  will  not  "do  nor  consent  to  any  act  whatever,  that 
shall  have  a  tendency  to  lessen  or  abridge  their  rights  and  privi- 
leges as  declared  in  the  Constitution  of  this  State"  as  also,  "that 
he  will  not  directly  or  indirectly  do  or  consent  to  any  act  or  thing 
prejudicial  or  injurious  to  the  Constitution  or  Government 
thereof,  as  established  by  the  Convention"  agreeably  to  the  40th 
section  of  the  Constitution.  These  oaths  of  infallibility  and  pas- 
sive obedience  to  the  form  of  the  Constitution,  effectually  pre- 
clude every  man,  who  holds  an  office  under  it,  from  attempting 
to  procure  the  least  amendment  in  any  part  of  it.*  It  is  a  mere 
quibble  upon  words  to  say,  that  a  man  may  mend  the  Constitu- 

*  That  it  was  the  design  of  the  Convention,  that  the  Constitution 
should  not  be  touched  by  any  power  but  a  Convention  to  be  called  by 
the  Council  of  Censors,  appears  from  the  oath  contained  in  the  40th 
section,  being  required  by  one  of  their  ordinances  as  the  only  condition 
upon  which  an  Elector  could  vote  for  an  Assemblyman.  Strange!  that 
men  should  call  God  to  witness  their  determination  to  support  a  govern- 
ment, which  a  majority  of  them  had  not  seen,  and  which  even  the 
minority  of  them  did  not  understand  or  disliked!  But,  for  the  honour  of 
the  State  it  should  be  recorded,  that  not  above  1500  of  the  2500,  who 
voted  for  the  Assembly,  took  the  oath  required  by  the  ordinance  of  the 
Convention. 


ON  GOOD  GOVERNMENT  77 

tion,  without  "doing  any  thing  prejudicial  or  injurious  to  it." 
The  Convention  did  not  intend  any  such  construction  to  be 
put  upon  their  oaths,  and  hence  we  find  in  the  introduction  to 
the  Constitution,  they  "declare  the  frame  of  government  to  be 
the  Constitution  of  this  commonwealth,  and  to  remain  in  force 
therein  forever,  unaltered,  except  in  such  articles  as  shall  here- 
after, upon  experience,  be  found  to  require  improvement,  and 
which  shall,  by  the  same  authority  of  the  people  fairly  delegated, 
as  this  frame  of  government  directs,  be  amended  and  improved." 
Now  we  know,  that  the  frame  of  government  forbids  the  least 
amendment  being  made  in  the  Constitution  in  any  other  than 
by  the  recommendation  of  a  Council  of  Censors. 

Had  the  Constitution  appeared  to  me  to  have  been  unexcep- 
tionable in  every  part,  and  had  it  been  the  result  of  the  united 
wisdom  of  men  and  angels,  I  would  not  have  taken  an  oath  of 
passive  obedience  to  it,  for  seven  or  nine  years.  The  constant 
changes  in  human  affairs,  and  in  the  dispositions  of  a  people, 
might  render  occasional  alterations,  in  that  time,  necessary  in 
the  most  perfect  Constitution.  But  to  take  an  oath  of  allegiance 
to  a  Constitution, — full  of  experiments, — a  Constitution  that  was 
indeed  a  new  thing  under  the  sun, — that  had  never  been  tried 
in  some  of  its  parts  in  any  country, — and  that  had  produced 
misery  in  other  of  its  parts  in  every  country. — I  say  to  swear  to 
support  or  even  to  submit,  for  seven  or  nine  years,  to  such  a 
Constitution,'  is  to  trifle  with  all  morality,  and  to  dishonour  the 
sacred  name  of  God  himself. 

What  would  you  think  of  a  man,  who  would  consent  to  shut 
his  eyes,  and  swallow  a  quantity  of  food  that  had  never  before 
been  tasted  by  a  human  creature,  and  swear  at  the  same  time, 
that  if  it  should  disorder  him  in  ever  so  great  a  degree,  he  would 
take  nothing  to  relieve  him  for  eight  and  forty  hours?  Such  a 
man  would  be  wise,  compared  with  the  man  who  takes  an  oath 
of  allegiance  to  the  Constitution  of  Pennsylvania. 

It  is  to  no  purpose  to  talk  here  of  the  many  excellent  articles 
in  the  Bill  of  Rights;  such  as  religious  toleration, — the  habeas 
corpus  act, — trials  by  juries, — the  rotation  of  office,  &c.  None 


78        SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

of  them  can  flourish  long  in  the  neighbourhood  of  a  single  As- 
sembly, and  a  Council  of  Censors  possessing  all  the  powers  of 
the  State.  .  .  .  These  inestimable  privileges  in  the  Constitution 
of  Pennsylvania  resemble  a  tree  loaded  with  the  most  luscious 
fruit,  but  surrounded  with  thorns,  in  such  a  manner,  as  to  be  for 
ever  inaccessible  to  the  hungry  traveller. 

Perhaps,  while  the  government  is  upon  its  good  behaviour, 
and  while  the  passions  of  the  State  are  directed  against  a  cruel 
and  common  enemy,  we  may  not  experience  all  the  calamities 
that  have  been  demonstrated  to  flow  from  the  Constitution.  .  .  . 
But  the  revolution  of  a  few  years,  and  the  return  of  peace,  will 
most  certainly  render  Pennsylvania,  under  her  present  Constitu- 
tion, the  most  miserable  spot  upon  the  surface  of  the  globe. 

I  believe  all  the  Members  of  the  late  Convention  were  true 
Whigs,  and  aimed  sincerely  at  forming  a  free  and  happy  gov- 
ernment: But,  I  am  sure,  that  if  Filmar  and  Hobbes  had  sat 
among  them,  they  could  not  have  formed  a  government  more 
destructive  of  human  happiness;  nor  could  Lord  North  or  Gen- 
eral Howe  have  formed  one  more  destructive  of  union  and 
vigour,  in  our  public  affairs,  than  the  present  Constitution  of 
Pennsylvania. 

It  is  one  thing  to  understand  the  principles,  and  another  thing 
to  understand  the  forms  of  government.  The  former  are  simple; 
the  latter  are  difficult  and  complicated.  There  is  the  same  differ- 
ence between  principles  and  forms  in  all  other  sciences.  Who 
understood  the  principles  of  mechanics  and  optics  better  than 
Sir  Isaac  Newton?  and  yet  Sir  Isaac  could  not  for  his  life  have 
made  a  watch  or  a  microscope.  Mr.  Locke  is  an  oracle  as  to  the 
principles,  Harrington  and  Montesquieu  are  oracles  as  to  the 
forms  of  government. 

Letter  IV 

A  question  very  naturally  arises  from  taking  a  review  of  the 
tyranny  of  the  government  of  Pennsylvania,  What  measures 


ON  GOOD  GOVERNMENT  79 

shall  be  taken  to  amend  them?  There  can  be  but  two  answers 
to  this  question,  ist.  To  submit  to  the  Constitution  for  the  pres- 
ent, till  a  peace  with  Great  Britain  will  give  us  leisure  to  make 
a  better;  or,  idly,  to  call  a  Convention  immediately  for  the  pur- 
pose of  making  a  new  Constitution.  I  believe  the  State  is  divided 
only  about  these  two  things;  for  the  party  who  believe  the  gov- 
ernment to  be  a  good  one,  is  too  inconsiderable  to  be  noticed  in 
this  place. 

I.  I  beg  leave  to  offer  a  few  objections  to  our  submitting 
to  the  Constitution,  and  shall  endeavour,  II.  to  obviate  the 
objections  that  have  been  made  to  the  immediate  calling  of 
a  Convention,  for  the  purpose  of  altering  and  amending 
it. 

There  is  the  utmost  danger  to  the  State  of  Pennsylvania 
in  a  temporary  submission  to  the  Constitution  from  the  following 
causes,  i.  The  government  is  a  tyranny.  The  moment  we  submit 
to  it  we  become  slaves.  We  hold  every  thing  dear  to  us  in  society 
upon  the  tenure  of  the  will  of  a  single  man  in  a  single  Assembly. 
Perhaps  the  mark  of  the  beast  may  not  be  fixed  immediately 
upon  us,  but  the  contract  is  made,  and  we  are  sold,  together  with 
our  posterity,  to  be  hewers  of  wood  and  drawers  of  water  for 
ever.  2.  The  Constitution  cannot  be  executed  in  part  without 
being  broken.  Now  there  cannot  be  a  more  dangerous  precedent 
in  a  free  country,  than  a  legislature  violating  in  a  single  article 
even  the  ^onm  of  a  Constitution.  3.  The  present  government 
will  not  draw  forth  the  wisdom  nor  strength  of  the  State,  nor 
afford  that  assistance  to  our  Sister  States  which  is  expected  from 
us  in  the  present  contest  with  Great  Britain.  Wise  and  good 
men  every  where  decline  to  accept  of  the  first  offices  in  the 
government.  The  militia  law  is  only  partially  executed.  We 
have  no  courts  of  justice  open  for  the  sequestration  or  confisca- 
tion of  Tory  property;  and,  lastly,  we  shall  never  be  able  under 
the  present  government  to  contribute  our  share  towards  sinking 
the  Continental  debt  by  taxes.  There  is  not  force  enough  in  the 
'whole  State  to  draw  taxes  from  a  single  county  against  their 


8o        SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

consent. f  Alas!  we  are  on  the  brink  of  ruin.  Our  State  has  lifted 
a  knife  to  her  throat,  and  is  about  to  undo  herself  by  a  hasty 
and  ill-judged  exercise  of  her  own  power.  Our  enemies  are  ex- 
ulting, and  our  friends  are  weeping  over  our  alarming  situation. 
Our  ancestors  look  down,  and  our  posterity  look  up  to  us  for  a 
happier  Constitution.  We  are  engaged  with  our  Sister  States 
in  a  bloody  and  expensive  war.  The  liberty  of  the  whole  world 
is  the  price  for  which  we  fight.  Human  nature  looks  to  us  to 
avenge  the  mighty  ills  she  has  suffered  from  the  tyrants  of  the 
old  world.  She  has  already  dropped  a  tear  of  joy  upon  the  pros- 
pect of  recovering  among  us  her  first  and  original  dignity.  A 
good  government  is  an  engine  not  less  necessary  to  ensure  us 
success  in  these  glorious  purposes  than  ammunition  and  fire-arms. 
The  way  of  duty  is  plain.  Let  a  Convention  be  chosen,  to  alter  and 
amend  the  government.  This  measure  alone  will  restore  vigor  and 
union  to  Pennsylvania.  Say  not,  my  dear  countrymen,  that  this 
is  not  the  time,  the  enemy  are  at  our  gates,  let  us  first  repel  them. 
Look  at  our  militia  on  a  field  day — see  the  attempts  of  the  friends 
to  the  Constitution  to  open  our  courts — hear  the  complaints  and 
murmurs  of  the  people.  They  all  proclaim  that  NOW  is  the  time 
for  altering  our  Constitution.  No  confusion  can  arise  from  it.  The 
gentlemen  in  the  opposition  declare  their  determination  to  sup- 
port the  present  Assembly  in  the  execution  of  every  law  necessary 

t  The  gentlemen  in  the  opposition  to  the  government  have  con- 
stantly prayed,  that  the  Constitution  might  be  referred  to  the  arbitration 
of  a  Convention,  and  have  declared  their  willingness  to  submit  to,  or  con- 
cur in  the  execution  of  it,  if  it  should  be  confirmed  by  a  representation 
of  the  people  fairly  chosen.  I  am  sorry  to  find  upon  the  Journals  of  the 
Assembly,  an  address  from  a  battalion  of  militia  in  Chester  county,  to  the 
Honourable  House,  assuring  them,  that  "they  will  support  the  present 
government  with  their  lives  and  fortunes."  Such  addresses  indicated  the 
weakness,  and  foreboded  the  present  contemptible  situation  of  the  court 
of  Britain.  They  were  presented  in  times  similar  to  our  own,  viz.  when 
the  American  colonies  were  upon  their  knees  to  the  throne,  praying  to 
be  governed  by  their  own  representatives,  and  to  be  delivered  from 
impending  slavery.  But  it  is  characteristic  of  the  present  Constitution, 
that,  in  the  first  year  of  its  execution,  the  journals  of  our  rulers  were 
stained  with  threats  of  bloodshed,  against  men  who  only  petitioned  for  a 
redress  of  grievances. 


ON  GOOD  GOVERNMENT  81 

for  the  safety  and  defence  of  the  State,  and  above  all  in  the 
execution  of  the  militia  and  test  laws.  They  have  no  interest 
unconnected  with  yours.  They  see  with  the  same  distress  as 
you  do  the  Tories  triumphing  in  our  disunion.  Be  not  deceived. 
The  Tories  are  not  enemies  to  the  present  government;  they 
enjoy  the  benefits  of  its  weakness,  and  there  is  good  authority 
to  say  they  have  secretly  helped  to  carry  it  into  execution.  Let 
us  beware  of  being  imposed  upon  by  the  popular  cry  of  the 
necessity  of  the  times.  When  the  Dissenters  in  Virginia  and 
South  Carolina  prayed  for  the  abolition  of  the  Episcopal  estab- 
lishment in  those  States,  the  High  Churchmen  acknowledged  that 
their  demands  were  just,  but  said,  that  this  was  not  the  time  for 
attending  to  them,  and  that  such  a  change  in  the  government 
would  throw  all  things  into  confusion.  The  demands  were  not- 
withstanding complied  with,  and  an  union  unparalleled  in  for- 
mer times  was  immediately  produced  in  those  States.  When  a 
declaration  of  independence  last  summer  appeared  to  be  the 
only  measure  that  could  save  America,  the  Tories  and  moderate 
men  acknowledged  the  justice  of  our  separation  from  Great 
Britain,  but  said,  "This  is  not  the  time."  The  event  showed  that 
the  time  was  come,  for,  exclusive  of  the  advantages  we  have 
gained  from  it  in  foreign  Courts,  it  served  to  precipitate  the 
timid,  the  doubtful  and  the  disaffected  characters  from  their 
mixture  with  the  rpal  Whigs,  and  although  it  lessened  the  num- 
bers in  the  opposition,  it  added  to  their  strength  by  producing 
union  and  decision  among  them.  To  delay  justice  (has  been  em- 
phatically said)  is  to  deny  it.  In  like  manner  to  delay  liberty  is  to 
take  it  away. 

The  Convention  of  New  York  formed  their  government 
within  the  reach  of  the  thunder  of  the  enemy's  cannon,  and  while 
one  half  of  their  State  was  in  their  possession.  Is  our  situation 
more  dangerous  than  it  was  last  year?  The  members  of  the  late 
Convention  were  chosen  on  a  day  when  the  Associators  of  the 
whole  State  were  in  motion.  The  Constitution  was  made  while 
above  5000  of  them  were  in  the  field.  The  sense  of  the  people 
was  not  asked  upon  the  subject  of  the  Constitution;  but  it  was 


82         SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

given  in  the  most  public  manner.  No  more  than  1500  freemen 
voted  for  its  being  executed,  for  that  number  only  took  the 
oath  of  allegiance  to  the  Constitution  at  the  election  in  October. 
Let  us  talk  no  more  then  of  the  "necessity  of  the  times"  This  is 
the  State  apology  at  St.  James's  for  all  the  crimes  of  the  present 
reign  and  for  all  the  ravages  and  bloodshed  we  have  witnessed 
in  America.  The  State  of  Massachusetts  Bay  are  preparing  for 
an  invasion;  they  expect  General  Burgoyne  every  hour  in  their 
harbours  with  a  powerful  army,  and  yet  in  a  Boston  paper,  of 
the  5th  of  May,  I  find  the  following  resolution  of  their  Assembly 
and  Council, 

STATE  OF  MASSACHUSETTS  BAY. 
In  the  HOUSE  of  REPRESENTATIVES,  M*y  5,  1777. 

"Resolved,  That  it  be,  and  hereby  is  recommended  to  the 
several  towns  and  places  in  this  State,  impowered  by  the  laws 
thereof,  to  send  Members  to  the  General  Assembly,  that,  at  their 
next  election  of  a  Member  or  Members  to  represent  them,  they 
make  choice  of  men,  in  whose  integrity  and  abilities  they  can 
place  the  greatest  confidence;  and,  in  addition  to  the  common 
and  ordinary  powers  of  representation,  instruct  them  in  one 
Body  with  the  Council,  to  form  such  a  Constitution  of  Govern- 
ment, as  they  shall  judge  best  calculated  to  promote  the  happiness 
of  this  State;  and  when  completed,  to  cause  the  same  to  be 
printed  in  all  the  Boston  News-Papers,  and  also  in  Hand-Bills, 
one  of  which  to  be  transmitted  to  the  Selectmen  of  each  town, 
or  the  Committee  of  each  plantation,  to  be  by  them  laid  before 
their  respective  towns  or  plantations,  at  a  regular  meeting  of  the 
inhabitants  thereof,  to  be  called  for  that  purpose;  in  order  to 
its  being,  by  each  town  and  plantation,  duly  considered.  And  a 
return  of  their  approbation  or  disapprobation  to  be  made  into 
the  Secretary's  Office  of  this  State,  at  a  reasonable  time  to  be 
fixed  on  by  the  General  Court,  specifying  the  numbers  present 
in  such  meeting,  voting  for,  and  those  voting  against  the  same: 
And  if,  upon  a  fair  examination  of  the  said  returns  by  the  Gen- 


ON  GOOD  GOVERNMENT  83 

eral  Court,  or  such  Committee  as  they  shall  appoint  for  that 
purpose,  it  shall  appear,  that  the  said  Form  of  Government 
is  approved  of  by  at  least  two  thirds  of  those  who  are  free,  and 
twenty  one  years  of  age,  belonging  to  this  State,  and  present 
in  the  several  meetings,  then  the  General  Court  shall  be  im- 
powered  to  establish  the  same  as  the  Constitution  and  Form 
of  Government  of  the  State  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  according  to 
which  the  inhabitants  thereof  shall  be  governed  in  all  succeeding 
generations,  unless  the  same  shall  be  altered  by  their  own  express 
direction,  or  that  of  at  least  two  thirds  of  them.  And  it  is  further 
recommended  to  the  Selectmen  of  the  several  towns,  in  the 
return  of  their  precepts  for  the  choice  of  Representatives,  to 
signify  their  having  considered  this  Resolve,  and  their  doings 
thereon." 

But  further,  recollect,  my  dear  countrymen,  our  conduct 
upon  reading  the  resolution  of  the  Honourable  Congress  of  the 
1 5th  of  May,  1776.  We  seized  it  as  a  Warrant  that  proclaimed 
liberty  to  us  and  our  posterity  for  ever.  It  was  said  by  some 
people  at  that  time,  "Let  the  Assembly  execute  that  resolution;" 
but  we  spurned  the  advice,  and  we  acted  like  men.  We  said,  that 
the  "Assembly  was  not  chosen  by  a  majority  of  votes  in  the 
State,"  owing  to  the  inequality  of  our  representation,  and  that 
they  wanted  the  "confidence  of  the  people."  We  thought  noth- 
ing then  of  the  loss  of  time  Occasioned  by  the  meeting  of  a 
Conference  of  Committees,  to  settle  the  mode  and  time  of  choos- 
ing a  Convention.  The  delay  of  months,  the  distractions  of  the 
State,  and  the  danger  of  an  invasion,  were  thought  to  be  trifling 
when  compared  with  the  prospect  of  a  good  Constitution,  that 
should  immediately  collect  and  exert  the  Whig  strength  of  the 
state. 

Thus  have  I  finished  my  observations  upon  the  Constitution 
of  Pennsylvania.  I  have  taken  notice  only  of  its  most  essential 
defects,  and  have  aimed  to  discuss  them  with  candor.  The  occa- 
sional remarks  upon  the  proceedings  of  the  Assembly,  are  to 
be  charged  entirely  to  the  faults  of  the  Constitution. — I  believe 


84         SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

the  gentlemen  in  power  have  nothing  in  view  but  the  freedom 
and  independance  of  the  State;  and  such  has  been  the  zeal  and 
integrity  of  many  of  them  in  the  pursuit  of  those  great  objects, 
that  it  gives  me  pain  to  reflect,  that  I  have  been  obliged  to  differ 
from  them  in  the  best  means  of  obtaining  them. 

With  this  declaration  I  shall  close  my  letters  to  the  people 
of  Pennsylvania.  Accept  thou  dear  asylum  of  my  ancestors, 
nurse  of  my  infancy,  protectress  of  my  childhood,  and  generous 
rewarder  of  the  toils  of  my  youth,  accept  of  these  humble  efforts 
to  restore  thee  to  freedom  and  happiness!  If  I  have  laboured 
in  vain,  I  shall  henceforth  mourn  in  secret  only  over  my  beloved 
country,  and  lament  the  day  that  I  was  born  a  Pennsylvanian. 


ON  EDUCATION 


OF    THE    MODE    OF    EDUCATION 
PROPER    IN    A     REPUBLIC 


THE  BUSINESS  of  education  has  acquired  a  new  complexion  by 
the  independence  of  our  country.  The  form  of  government  we 
have  assumed,  has  created  a  new  class  of  duties  to  every  Ameri- 
can. It  becomes  us,  therefore,  to  examine  our  former  habits  upon 
this  subject,  and  in  laying  the  foundations  for  nurseries  of  wise 
and  good  men,  to  adapt  our  modes  of  teaching  to  the  peculiar 
form  of  our  government. 

The  first  remark  that  I  shall  make  upon  this  subject  is,  that 
an  education  in  our  own,  is  to  be  preferred  to  an  education  in  a 
foreign  country.  The  principle  of  patriotism  stands  in  need  of 
the  reinforcement  of  prejudice,  and  it  is  well  known  that  our 
strongest  prejudices  in  favour  of  our  country  are  formed  in  the 
first  one  and  twenty  years  of  our  lives.  The  policy  of  the  Lace- 
demonians is  well  worthy  of  our  imitation.  When  Antipater 
demanded  fifty  of  their  children  as  hostages  for  the  fulfillment 
of  a  distant  engagement,  those  wise  republicans  refused  to  com- 
ply with  his  demand,  but  readily  offered  him  double  the  num- 
ber of  their  adult  citizens,  whose  habits  and  prejudices  could 
not  be  shaken  by  residing  in  a  foreign  country.  Passing  by,  in 
this  place,  the  advantages  to  the  community  from  the  early  at- 
tachment of  youth  to  the  laws  and  constitution  of  their  country, 
I  shall  only  remark,  that  young  men  who  have  trodden  the 
paths  of  science  together,  or  have  joined  in  the  same  sports,% 
whether  of  swimming,  skating,  fishing,  or  hunting,  generally  feel, 

8? 


88        SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

thro'  life,  such  ties  to  each  other,  as  add  greatly  to  the  obligations 
of  mutual  benevolence. 

I  conceive  the  education  of  our  youth  in  this  country  to  be 
peculiarly  necessary  in  Pennsylvania,  while  our  citizens  are 
composed  of  the  natives  of  so  many  different  kingdoms  in 
Europe.  Our  schools  of  learning,  by  producing  one  general, 
and  uniform  system  of  education,  will  render  the  mass  of  the 
people  more  homogeneous,  and  thereby  fit  them  more  easily  for 
uniform  and  peaceable  government. 

I  proceed  in  the  next  place,  to  enquire,  what  mode  of  edu- 
cation we  shall  adopt  so  as  to  secure  to  the  state  all  the  advan- 
tages that  are  to  be  derived  from  the  proper  instruction  of  youth; 
and  here  I  beg  leave  to  remark,  that  the  only  foundation  for  a 
useful  education  in  a  republic  is  to  be  laid  in  Religion.  Without 
this  there  can  be  no  virtue,  and  without  virtue  there  can  be  no 
liberty,  and  liberty  is  the  object  and  life  of  all  republican  gov- 
ernments. 

Such  is  my  veneration  for  every  religion  that  reveals  the 
attributes  of  the  Deity,  or  a  future  state  of  rewards  and  punish- 
ments, that  I  had  rather  see  the  opinions  of  Confucius  or  Ma- 
hohied  inculcated  upon  our  youth,  than  see  them  grow  up 
wholly  devoid  of  a  system  of  religious  principles.  But  the  re- 
ligion I  mean  to  recommend  in  this  place,  is  that  of  the  New 
Testament. 

It  is  foreign  to  my  purpose  to  hint  at  the  arguments  which 
establish  the  truth  of  the  Christian  revelation.  My  only  business 
is  to  declare,  that  all  its  doctrines  and  precepts  are  calculated 
to  promote  the  happiness  of  society,  and  the  safety  and  well 
being  of  civil  government.  A  Christian  cannot  fail  of  being  a 
republican.  The  history  of  the  creation  of  man,  and  of  the  re- 
lation of  our  species  to  each  other  by  birth,  which  is  recorded 
in  the  Old  Testament,  is  the  best  refutation  that  can  be  given 
to  the  divine  right  of  kings,  and  the  strongest  argument  that  can 
be  used  in  favor  of  the  original  and  natural  equality  of  all  man- 
kind. A  Christian,  I  say  again,  cannot  fail  of  being  a  republican, 
for  every  precept  of  the  Gospel  inculcates  those  degrees  of  hu- 


ON  EDUCATION  89 

mility,  self-denial,  and  brotherly  kindness,  which  are  directly 
opposed  to  the  pride  of  monarchy  and  the  pageantry  of  a  court. 
A  Christian  cannot  fail  of  being  useful  to  the  republic,  for  his 
religion  teacheth  him,  that  no  man  "liveth  to  himself."  And 
lastly,  a  Christian  cannot  fail  of  being  wholly  inoffensive,  for 
his  religion  teacheth  him,  in  all  things  to  do  to  others  what  he 
would  wish,  in  like  circumstances,  they  should  do  to  him. 

I  am  aware  that  I  dissent  from  one  of  those  paradoxical 
opinions  with  which  modern  times  abound;  and  that  it  is  im- 
proper to  fill  the  minds  of  youth  with  religious  prejudices  of 
any  kind,  and  that  they  should  be  left  to  choose  their  own 
principles,  after  they  have  arrived  at  an  age  in  which  they  are 
capable  of  judging  for  themselves.  Could  we  preserve  the  mind 
in  childhood  and  youth  a  perfect  blank,  this  plan  of  education 
would  have  more  to  recommend  it;  but  this  we  know  to  be 
impossible.  The  human  mind  runs  as  naturally  into  principles 
as  it  does  after  facts.  It  submits  with  difficulty  to  those  restraints 
or  partial  discoveries  which  are  imposed  upon  it  in  the  infancy 
of  reason.  Hence  the  impatience  of  children  to  be  informed 
upon  all  subjects  that  relate  to  the  invisible  world.  But  I  beg 
leave  to  ask,  why  should  we  pursue  a  different  plan  of  education 
with  respect  to  religion,  from  that  which  we  pursue  in  teaching 
the  arts  and  sciences?  Do  we  leave  our  youth  to  acquire  systems 
of  geography,  philosophy,  or  politics,  till  they  have  arrived  at 
an  age  in  which  they  are  capable  of  judging  for  themselves? 
We  do  not.  I  claim  no  more  then  for  religion,  than  for  the  other 
sciences,  and  I  add  further,  that  if  our  youth  are  disposed  after 
they  are  of  age  to  think  for  themselves,  a  knowledge  of  one 
system,  will  be  the  best  means  of  conducting  them  in  a  free 
enquiry  into  other  systems  of  religion,  just  as  an  acquaintance 
with  one  system  of  philosophy  is  the  best  introduction  to  the 
study  of  all  the  other  systems  in  the  world. 

Next  to  the  duty  which  young  men  owe  to  their  Creator, 
I  wish  to  see  a  regard  to  their  country,  inculcated  upon  them. 
When  the  Duke  of  Sully  became  prime  minister  to  Henry  the 
IVth  of  France,  the  first  thing  he  did,  he  tells  us,  "Was  to  subdue 


9o        SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

and  forget  his  own  heart."  The  same  duty  is  incumbent  upon 
every  citizen  of  a  republic.  Our  country  includes  family,  friends 
and  property,  and  should  be  preferred  to  them  all.  Let  our 
pupil  be  taught  that  he  does  not  belong  to  himself,  but  that  he 
is  public  property.  Let  him  be  taught  to  love  his  family,  but 
let  him  be  taught,  at  the  same  time,  that  he  must  forsake,  and 
even  forget  them,  when  the  welfare  of  his  country  requires  it. 
He  must  watch  for  the  state,  as  if  its  liberties  depended  upon 
his  vigilance  alone,  but  he  must  do  this  in  such  a  manner  as  not 
to  defraud  his  creditors,  or  neglect  his  family.  He  must  love 
private  life,  but  he  must  decline  no  station,  however  public  or 
responsible  it  may  be,  when  called  to  it  by  the  suffrages  of  his 
fellow  citizens.  He  must  love  popularity,  but  he  must  despise 
it  when  set  in  competition  with  the  dictates  of  Jiis  judgement, 
or  the  real  interest  of  his  country.  He  must  love  character,  and 
have  a  due  sense  of  injuries,  but  he  must  be  taught  to  appeal 
only  to  the  laws  of  the  state,  to  defend  the  one,  and  punish  the 
other.  He  must  love  family  honor,  but  he  must  be  taught  that 
neither  the  rank  nor  antiquity  of  his  ancestors,  can  command 
respect,  without  personal  merit.  He  must  avoid  neutrality  in 
all  questions  that  divide  the  state,  but  he  must  shun  the  rage, 
and  acrimony  of  party  spirit.  He  must  be  taught  to  love  his 
fellow  creatures  in  every  part  of  the  world,  but  he  must  cherish 
with  a  more  intense  and  peculiar  affection,  the  citizens  of  Penn- 
sylvania and  of  the  United  States.  I  do  not  wish  to  see  our  youth 
educated  with  a  single  prejudice  against  any  nation  or  country; 
but  we  impose  a  task  upon  human  nature,  repugnant  alike  to 
reason,  revelation  and  the  ordinary  dimensions  of  the  human 
heart,  when  we  require  him  to  embrace,  with  equal  affection, 
the  whole  family  of  mankind.  He  must  be  taught  to  amass  wealth, 
but  it  must  be  only  to  encrease  his  power  of  contributing  to  the 
wants  and  demands  of  the  state.  He  must  be  indulged  occasion- 
ally in  amusements,  but  he  must  be  taught  that  study  and  busi- 
ness should  be  his  principal  pursuits  in  life.  Above  all  he  must 
love  life,  and  endeavour  to  acquire  as  many  «of  its  conveniences 
as  possible  by  industry  and  economy,  but  he  must  be  taught 


ON  EDUCATION  91 

that  this  life  "is  not  his  own,"  when  the  safety  of  his  country 
requires  it.  These  are  practicable  lessons,  and  the  history  of  the 
commonwealths  of  Greece  and  Rome  show,  that  human  nature, 
without  the  aids  of  Christianity,  has  attained  these  degrees  of 
perfection. 

While  we  inculcate  these  republican  duties  upon  our  pupil, 
we  must  not  neglect,  at  the  same  time,  to  inspire  him  with  re- 
publican principles.  He  must  be  taught  that  there  can  be  no 
durable  liberty  but  in  a  republic,  and  that  government,  like  all 
other  sciences,  is  of  a  progressive  nature.  The  chains  which 
have  bound  this  science  in  Europe  are  happily  unloosed  in 
America.  Here  it  is  open  to  investigation  and  improvement. 
While  philosophy  has  protected  us  by  its  discoveries  from  a 
thousand  natural  evils,  government  has  unhappily  followed  with 
an  unequal  pace.  It  would  be  to  dishonor  human  genius,  only 
to  name  the  many  defects  which  still  exist  in  the  best  systems 
of  legislation.  We  daily  see  matter  of  a  perishable  nature  ren- 
dered durable  by  certain  chemical  operations.  In  like  manner, 
I  conceive,  that  it  is  possible  to  combine  power  in  such  a  way 
as  not  only  to  encrease  the  happiness,  but  to  promote  the  dura- 
tion of  republican  forms  of  government  far  beyond  the  terms 
limited  for  them  by  history,  or  the  common  opinions  of  man- 
kind. 

To  assist  in  rendering  religious,  moral  and  political  instruction 
more  effectual  upon  the  minds  of  our  youth,  it  will  be  necessary 
to  subject  their  bodies  to  physical  discipline.  To  obviate  the  in- 
conveniences of  their  studious  and  sedentary  mode  of  life,  they 
should  live  upon  a  temperate  diet,  consisting  chiefly  of  broths, 
milk  and  vegetables.  The  black  broth  of  Sparta,  and  the  barley 
broth  of  Scotland,  have  been  alike  celebrated  for  their  beneficial 
effects  upon  the  minds  of  young  people.  They  should  avoid 
tasting  spirituous  liquors.  They  should  also  be  accustomed  occa- 
sionally to  work  with  their  hands,  ill  the  intervals  of  study,  and 
in  the  busy  seasons  of  the  year  in  the  country.  Moderate  sleep, 
silence,  occasional  solitude  and  cleanliness,  should  be  inculcated 
upon  them,  and  the  utmost  advantage  should  be  taken  of  a 


92         SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

proper  direction  of  those  great  principles  in  human  conduct, — 
sensibility,  habit,  imitations  and  association. 

The  influence  of  these  physical  causes  will  be  powerful  upon 
the  intellects,  as  well  as  upon  the  principles  and  morals  of  young 
people. 

To  those  who  have  studied  human  nature,  it  will  not  appear 
paradoxical  to  recommend,  in  this  essay,  a  particular  attention 
to  vocal  music.  Its  mechanical  effects  in  civilizing  the  mind, 
and  thereby  preparing  it  for  the  influence  of  religion  and  gov- 
ernment, have  been  so  often  felt  and  recorded,  that  it  will  be 
unnecessary  to  mention  facts  in  favour  of  its  usefulness,  in  order 
to  excite  a  proper  attention  to  it. 

I  cannot  help  bearing  a  testimony,  in  this  place,  against  the 
custom,  which  prevails  in  some  parts  of  America,  (but  which 
is  daily  falling  into  disuse  in  Europe)  of  crowding  boys  together 
under  one  roof  for  the  purpose  of  education.  The  practice  is 
the  gloomy  remains  of  monkish  ignorance,  and  is  as  unfavorable 
to  the  improvements  of  the  mind  in  useful  learning,  as  monas- 
teries are  to  the  spirit  of  religion.  I  grant  this  mode  of  secluding 
boys  from  the  intercourse  of  private  families,  has  a  tendency  to 
make  them  scholars,  but  our  business  is  to  make  them  men,  citi- 
zens and  Christians.  The  vices  of  young  people  are  generally 
learned  from  each  other.  The  vices  of  adults  seldom  infect  them. 
By  separating  them  from  each  other,  therefore,  in  their  hours 
of  relaxation  from  study,  we  secure  their  morals  from  a  principal 
source  of  corruption,  while  we  improve  their  manners,  by  sub- 
jecting them  to  those  restraints  which  the  difference  of  age  and 
sex,  naturally  produce  in  private  families. 

From  the  observations  that  have  been  made  it  is  plain,  that 
I  consider  it  is  possible  to  convert  men  into  republican  machines. 
This  must  be  done,  if  we  expect  them  to  perform  their  parts 
properly,  in  the  great  machine  of  the  government  of  the  state. 
That  republic  is  sophisticated  with  monarchy  or  aristocracy 
that  does  not  revolve  upon  the  wills  of  the  people,  and  these 
must  be  fitted  to  each  other  by  means  of  education  before  they 
can  be  made  to  produce  regularity  and  unison  in  government. 


ON  EDUCATION  93 

Having  pointed  out  those  general  principles,  which  should 
be  inculcated  alike  in  all  the  schools  of  the  state,  I  proceed  now 
to  make  a  few  remarks  upon  the  method  of  conducting,  what 
is  commonly  called,  a  liberal  or  learned  education  in  a  republic. 

I  shall  begin  this  part  of  my  subject,  by  bearing  a  testimony 
against  the  common  practice  of  attempting  to  teach  boys  the 
learned  languages,  and  the  arts  and  sciences  too  early  in  life.  The 
first  twelve  years  of  life  are  barely  sufficient  to  instruct  a  boy 
in  reading,  writing  and  arithmetic.  With  these,  he  may  be  taught 
those  modern  languages  which  are  necessary  for  him  to  speak. 
The  state  of  the  memory,  in  early  life,  is  favorable  to  the  acqui- 
sition of  languages,  especially  when  they  are  conveyed  to  the 
mind,  through  the  ear.  It  is,  moreover,  in  early  life  only,  that  the 
organs  of  speech  yield  in  such  a  manner  as  to  favour  the  just 
pronunciation  of  foreign  languages. 

Too  much  pains  cannot  be  taken  to  teach  our  youth  to  read 
and  write  our  American  language  with  propriety  and  elegance. 
The  study  of  the  Greek  language  constituted  a  material  part 
of  the  literature  of  the  Athenians,  hence  the  sublimity,  purity 
and  immortality  of  so  many  of  their  writings.  The  advantages 
of  a  perfect  knowledge  of  our  language  to  young  men  intended 
for  the  professions  of  law,  physic,  or  divinity  are  too  obvious 
to  be  mentioned,  but  in  a  state  which  boasts  of  the  first  com- 
mercial city  in  America,  I  wish  to  see  it  cultivated  by  young 
men,  who  are  intended  for  the  compting  house,  for  many  such, 
I  hope,  will  be  educated  in  our  colleges.  The  time  is  past  when 
an  academical  education  was  thought  to  be  unnecessary  to 
qualify  a  young  man  for  merchandize.  I  conceive  no  profession 
is  capable  of  receiving  more  embellishments  from  it.  The  French 
and  German  languages  should  likewise  be  carefully  taught  in 
all  our  colleges.  They  abound  with  useful  books  upon  all  sub- 
jects. So  important  and  necessary  are  those  languages,  that  a 
degree  should  never  be  conferred  upon  a  young  man  who  can- 
not speak  or  translate  them. 

Connected  with  the  study  of  languages  is  the  study  of  elo- 
quence. It  is  well  known  how  great  a  part  it  constituted  of  the 


94        SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

Roman  education.  It  is  the  first  accomplishment  in  a  republic, 
and  often  sets  the  whole  machine  of  government  in  motion.  Let 
our  youth,  therefore,  be  instructed  in  this  art.  We  do  not  extol 
it  too  highly  when  we  attribute  as  much  to  the  power  of  elo- 
quence as  to  the  sword,  in  bringing  about  the  American  Revo- 
lution. 

With  the  usual  arts  and  sciences  that  are  taught  in  our  Ameri- 
can colleges,  I  wish  to  see  a  regular  course  of  lectures  given 
upon  History  and  Chronology.  The  science  of  government, 
whether  it  relates  to  constitutions  or  laws,  can  only  be  advanced 
by  a  careful  selection  of  facts,  and  these  are  to  be  found  chiefly 
in  history.  Above  all,  let  our  youth  be  instructed  in  the  history 
of  the  ancient  republics,  and  the  progress  of  liberty  and  tyranny 
in  the  different  states  of  Europe.  I  wish  likewise  to  see  the  numer- 
ous facts  that  relate  to  the  origin  and  present  state  of  commerce, 
together  with  the  nature  and  principles  of  money,  reduced  to 
such  a  system,  as  to  be  intelligible  and  agreeable  to  a  young  man. 
If  we  consider  the  commerce  of  our  metropolis  only  as  the 
avenue  of  the  wealth  of  the  state,  the  study  of  it  merits  a  place 
in  a  young  man's  education;  but,  I  consider  commerce  in  a 
much  higher  light  when  I  recommend  the  study  of  it  in  re- 
publican seminaries.  I  view  it  as  the  best  security  against  the 
influence  of  hereditary  monopolies  of  land,  and,  therefore,  the 
surest  protection  against  aristocracy.  I  consider  its  effects  as  next 
to  those  of  religion  in  humanizing  mankind,  and  lastly,  I  view 
it  as  the  means  of  uniting  the  different  nations  of  the  world 
together  by  the  ties  of  mutual  wants  and  obligations. 

Chemistry  by  unfolding  to  us  the  effects  of  heat  and  mixture, 
enlarges  our  acquaintance  with  the  wonders  of  nature  and  the 
mysteries  of  art;  hence  it  has  become,  in  most  of  the  universities 
of  Europe,  a  necessary  branch  of  a  gentleman's  education.  In  a 
young  country,  where  improvements  in  agriculture  and  manu- 
factures are  so  much  to  be  desired,  the  cultivation  of  this  science, 
which  explains  the  principles  of  both  of  them,  should  be  con- 
sidered as  an  object  of  the  utmost  importance. 

Again,  let  your  youth  be  instructed  in  all  the  means  of  pro- 


ON  EDUCATION  95 

moting  national  prosperity  and  independence,  whether  they 
relate  to  improvements  in  agriculture,  manufactures,  or  inland 
navigation.  Let  him  be  instructed  further  in  the  general  principles 
of  legislation,  whether  they  relate  to  revenue,  or  to  the  preserva- 
tion of  life,  liberty  or  property.  Let  him  be  directed  frequently 
to  attend  the  courts  of  justice,  where  he  will  have  the  best  op- 
portunities of  acquiring  habits  of  comparing,  and  arranging  his 
ideas  by  observing  the  discovery  of  truth,  in  the  examination 
of  witnesses,  and  where  he  will  hear  the  laws  of  the  state  ex- 
plained, with  all  the  advantages  of  that  species  of  eloquence 
which  belongs  to  the  bar.  Of  so  much  importance  do  I  con- 
ceive it  to  be,  to  a  young  man,  to  attend  occasionally  to  the 
decisions  of  our  courts  of  law,  that  I  wish  to  see  our  colleges 
established,  only  in  county  towns. 

But  further,  considering  the  nature  of  our  connection  with 
the  United  States,  it  will  be  necessary  to  make  our  pupil  ac- 
quainted with  all  the  prerogatives  of  the  national  government. 
He  must  be  instructed  in  the  nature  and  variety  of  treaties.  He 
must  know  the  difference  in  the  powers  and  duties  of  the  several 
species  of  ambassadors.  He  must  be  taught  wherein  the  obliga- 
tions of  individuals  and  of  states  are  the  same,  and  wherein  they 
differ.  In  short,  he  must  acquire  a  general  knowledge  of  all  those 
laws  and  forms,  which  unite  the  sovereigns  of  the  earth,  or 
separate  them  from  each  other. 

I  beg  pardon  for  having  delayed  so  long  to  say  any  thing 
of  the  separate  and  peculiar  mode  of  education  proper  for  women 
in  a  republic.  I  am  sensible  that  they  must  concur  in  all  our  plans 
of  education  for  young  men,  or  no  laws  will  ever  render  them 
effectual.  To  qualify  our  women  for  this  purpose,  they  should 
not  only  be  instructed  in  the  usual  branches  of  female  education, 
but  they  should  be  taught  the  principles  of  liberty  and  govern- 
ment; and  the  obligations  of  patriotism  should  be  inculcated 
upon  them.  The  opinions  and  conduct  of  men  are  often  regu- 
Jated  by  the  women  in  the  most  arduous  enterprizes  of  life;  and 
their  approbation  is  frequently  the  principal  reward  of  the  hero's 
dangers,  and  the  patriot's  toils.  Besides,  the  first  impressions  upon 


96         SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

the  minds  of  children  are  generally  derived  from  the  women. 
Of  how  much  consequence,  therefore,  is  it  in  a  republic,  that 
they  should  think  justly  upon  the  great  subject  of  liberty  and 
government! 

The  complaints  that  have  been  made  against  religion,  liberty 
and  learning,  have  been,  against  each  of  them  in  a  separate  state. 
Perhaps  like  certain  liquors,  they  should  only  be  used  in  a  state 
of  mixture.  They  mutually  assist  in  correcting  the  abuses,  and 
in  improving  the  good  effects  of  each  other.  From  the  com- 
bined and  reciprocal  influence  of  religion,  liberty  and  learning 
upon  the  morals,  manners  and  knowledge  of  individuals,  of  these, 
upon  government,  and  of  government,  upon  individuals,  it  is 
impossible  to  measure  the  degrees  of  happiness  and  perfection 
to  which  mankind  may  be  raised.  For  my  part,- 1  can  form  no 
ideas  of  the  golden  age,  so  much  celebrated  by  the  poets,  more 
delightful,  than  the  contemplation  of  that  happiness  which  it  is 
now  in  the  power  of  the  legislature  of  Pennsylvania  to  confer 
upon  her  citizens,  by  establishing  proper  modes  and  places  of 
education  in  every  part  of  the  state. 


EDUCATION     AGREEABLE     TO     A 
REPUBLICAN     FORM     OF 
GOVERNMENT 


BEFORE  I  proceed  to  the  subject  of  this  essay,  I  shall  point  out, 
in  a  few  words,  the  influence  and  advantages  of  learning  upon 
mankind. 

I.  It  is  friendly  to  religion,  inasmuch  as  it  assists  in  removing 
prejudice,  superstition  and  enthusiasm,  in  promoting  just  notions 
of  the  Deity,  and  in  enlarging  our  knowledge  of  his  works. 

II.  It  is  favourable  to  liberty.  Freedom  can  exist  only  in  the 
society  of  knowledge.  Without  learning,  men  are  incapable  of 
knowing  their  rights,  and  where  learning  is  confined  to  a  few 
people,  liberty  can  be  neither  equal  nor  universal. 

III.  It  promotes  just  ideas  of  laws  and  government.  "When 
the  clouds  of  ignorance  are  dispelled    (says  the  Marquis  of 
Beccaria)  by  the  radiance  of  knowledge,  power  trembles,  but 
the  authority  of  laws  remains  immovable." 

IV.  It  is  friendly  to  manners.   Learning  in   all   countries, 
promotes  civilization,  and  the  pleasures  of  society  and  conver- 
sation. 

V.  It  promotes  agriculture,  the  great  basis  of  national  wealth 
and  happiness.  Agriculture  is  as  much  a  science  as  hydraulics, 
or  optics,  and  has  been  equally  indebted  to  the  experiments  and 
researches  of  learned  men.  The  highly  cultivated  state,  and  the 
immense  profits  of  the  farms  in  England,  are  derived  wholly 
from  the  patronage  which  agriculture  has  received  in  that  coun- 
try, from  learned  men  and  learned  societies. 

97 


98         SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

VI.  Manufactures  of  all  kinds  owe  their  perfection  chiefly 
to  learning — hence  the  nations  of  Europe  advance  in  manufac- 
tures, knowledge,  and  commerce,  only  in  proportion  as  they 
cultivate  the  arts  and  sciences. 

For  the  purpose  of  diffusing  knowledge  through  every  part 
of  the  state,  I  beg  leave  to  propose  the  following  simple  plan. 

I.  Let  there  be  one  university  in  the  state,  and  let  this  be 
established  in  the  capital.  Let  law,  physic,  divinity,  the  law  of 
nature  and  nations,  economy,  &c.  be  taught  in  it  by  public  lec- 
tures in  the  winter  season,  after  the  manner  of  the  European 
universities,  and  let  the  professors  receive  such  salaries  from  the 
state  as  will  enable  them  to  deliver  their  lectures  at  a  moderate 
price. 

II.  Let  there  be  four  colleges.  One  in  Philadelphia;  one  at 
Carlisle;  a  third,  for  the  benefit  of  our  German  fellow  citizens, 
at  Lancaster;  and  a  fourth,  some  years  hence  at  Pittsburgh.  In 
these  colleges,  let  young  men  be  instructed  in  mathematics  and 
in  the  higher  branches  of  science,  in  the  same  manner  that  they 
are  now  taught  in  our  American  colleges.  After  they  have  re- 
ceived a  testimonial  from  one  of  these  colleges,  let  them,  if  they 
can  afford  it,  complete  their  studies  by  spending  a  season  or  two 
in  attending  the  lectures  in  the  university.  I  prefer  four  colleges 
in  the  state  to  one  or  two,  for  there  is  a  certain  size  of  colleges 
as  there  is  of  towns  and  armies,  that  is  most  favourable  to  morals 
and  good  government.  Oxford  and  Cambridge  in  England  are 
the  seats  of  dissipation,   while  the  more   numerous,   and   less 
crowded  universities  and  colleges  in  Scotland,  are  remarkable 
for  the  order,  diligence,  and  decent  behaviour  of  their  students. 

II.  Let  there  be  free  schools  established  in  every  township, 
or  in  districts  consisting  of  one  hundred  families.  In  these  schools 
let  children  be  taught  to  read  and  write  the  English  and  German 
languages,  and  the  use  of  figures.  Such  of  them  as  have  parents 
that  can  afford  to  send  them  from  home,  and  are  disposed  to 
extend  their  educations,  may  remove  their  children  from  the 
free  school  to  one  of  the  colleges. 

By  this  plan  the  whole  state  will  be  tied  together  by  one 


ON  EDUCATION  99 

system  of  education.  The  university  will  in  time  furnish  masters 
for  the  colleges,  and  the  colleges  will  furnish  masters  for  the 
free  schools,  while  the  free  schools,  in  their  turns,  will  supply 
the  colleges  and  the  university  with  scholars,  students  and  pupils. 
The  same  systems  of  grammar,  oratory  and  philosophy,  will  be 
taught  in  every  part  of  the  state,  and  the  literary  features  of 
Pennsylvania  will  thus  designate  one  great,  and  equally  enlight- 
ened family. 

But,  how  shall  we  bear  the  expense  of  these  literary  institu- 
tions?— I  answer — These  institutions  will  lessen  our  taxes.  They 
will  enlighten  us  in  the  great  business  of  finance — they  will  teach 
us  to  increase  the  ability  of  the  state  to  support  government, 
by  increasing  the  profits  of  agriculture,  and  by  promoting  manu- 
factures. They  will  teach  us  all  the  modern  improvements  and 
advantages  of  inland  navigation.  They  will  defend  us  from 
hasty  and  expensive  experiments  in  government,  by  unfolding 
to  us  the  experience  and  folly  of  past  ages,  and  thus,  instead  of 
adding  to  our  taxes  and  debts,  they  will  furnish  us  with  the 
true  secret  of  lessening  and  discharging  both  of  them. 

But,  shall  the  estates  of  orphans,  bachelors  and  persons  who 
have  no  children,  be  taxed  to  pay  for  the  support  of  schools  from 
which  they  can  derive  no  benefit?  I  answer  in  the  affirmative,  to 
the  first  part  of  the  objection,  and  I  deny  the  truth  of  the  latter 
part  of  it.  Every  member  of  the  community  is  interested  in  the 
propagation  of  virtue  and  knowledge  in  the  state.  But  I  will  go 
further,  and  add,  it  will  be  true  economy  in  individuals  to  sup- 
port public  schools.  The  bachelor  will  in  time  save  his  tax  for 
this  purpose,  by  being  able  to  sleep  with  fewer  bolts  and  locks 
to  his  doors — the  estates  of  orphans  will  in  time  be  benefited,  by 
being  protected  from  the  ravages  of  unprincipled  and  idle  boys, 
and  the  children  of  wealthy  parents  will  be  less  tempted,  by  bad 
company,  to  extravagance.  Fewer  pillories  and  whipping  posts, 
and  smaller  gaols,  with  their  usual  expenses  and  taxes,  will  be 
necessary  when  our  youth  are  properly  educated,  than  at  pres- 
ent; I  believe  it  could  be  proved,  that  the  expenses  of  confining, 
trying  and  executing  criminals,  amount  every  year,  in  most  of 


ioo       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

the  counties,  to  more  money  than  would  be  sufficient  to  main- 
tain all  the  schools  that  would  be  necessary  in  each  county.  The 
confessions  of  these  criminals  generally  show  us,  that  their  vices 
and  punishments  are  the  fatal  consequences  of  the  want  of  a 
proper  education  in  early  life. 

I  submit  these  detached  hints  to  the  consideration  of  the 
legislature  and  of  the  citizens  of  Pennsylvania.  The  plan  for 
the  free  schools  is  taken  chiefly  from  the  plans  which  have  long 
been  used  with  success  in  Scotland,  and  in  the  eastern  states  * 
of  America,  where  the  influence  of  learning,  in  promoting  re- 
ligion, morals,  manners  and  good  government,  has  never  been 
exceeded  in  any  country. 

The  manner  in  which  these  schools  should  be  supported  and 
governed — the  modes  of  determining  the  characters  and  quali- 
fications of  schoolmasters,  and  the  arrangement  of  families  in 
each  district,  so  that  children  of  the  same  religious  sect  and 
nation,  may  be  educated  as  much  as  possible  together,  will  form 
a  proper  part  of  a  law  for  the  establishment  of  schools,  and 
therefore  does  not  come  within  the  limits  of  this  plan. 

*  There  are  600  of  these  schools  in  the  small  state  of  Connecticut, 
which  at  this  time  have  in  them  25,000  scholars. 


PLAN    OF    A    FEDERAL    UNIVERSITY 


"YOUR  GOVERNMENT  cannot  be  executed.  It  is  too  extensive  for 
a  republic.  It  is  contrary  to  the  habits  of  the  people,"  say  the 
enemies  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. — However 
opposite  to  the  opinions  and  wishes  of  a  majority  of  the  citizens 
of  the  United  States,  these  declarations  and  predictions  may  be, 
they  will  certainly  come  to  pass,  unless  the  people  are  prepared 
for  our  new  form  of  government  by  an  education  adapted  to  the 
new  and  peculiar  situation  of  our  country.  To  effect  this  great 
and  necessary  work,  let  one  of  the  first  acts  of  the  new  Congress 
be,  to  establish  within  the  district  to  be  allotted  for  them,  a 
federal  university,  into  which  the  youth  of  the  United  States 
shall  be  received  after  they  have  finished  their  studies,  and  taken 
their  degrees  in  the  colleges  of  their  respective  states.  In  this 
University,  let  those  branches  of  literature  only  be  taught,  which 
are  calculated  to  prepare  our  youth  for  civil  and  public  life. 
These  branches  should  be  taught  by  means  of  lectures,  and  the 
following  arts  and  sciences  should  be  the  subjects  of  them. 

1.  The  principles  and  forms  of  government,  applied  in  a 
particular  manner  to  the  explanation  of  every  part  of  the  Con- 
stitution and  laws  of  the  United  States,  together  with  the  laws 
of  nature  and  nations,  which  last  should  include  every  thing  that 
relates  to  peace,  war,  treaties,  ambassadors,  and  the  like. 

2.  History  both  ancient  and  modern,  and  chronology. 

3.  Agriculture  in  all  its  numerous  and  extensive  branches. 

4.  The  principles  and  practice  of  manufactures. 

5.  The  history,  principles,  objects  and  channels  of  commerce. 

101 


loz       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

6.  Those  parts  of  mathematics  which  are  necessary  to  the 
division  of  property,  to  finance,  and  to  the  principles  and  prac- 
tice of  war,  for  there  is  too  much  reason  to  fear  that  war  will 
continue,  for  some  time  to  come,  to  be  the  unChristian  mode  of 
deciding  disputes  between  Christian  nations. 

7.  Those  parts  of  natural  philosophy  and  chemistry,  which 
admit  of  an  application  to  agriculture,  manufactures,  commerce 
and  war. 

8.  Natural  history,  which  includes  the  history  of  animals, 
vegetables  and  fossils.  To  render  instruction  in  these  branches  01 
science  easy,  it  will  be  necessary  to  establish  a  museum,  as  also 
a  garden,  in  which  not  only  all  the  shrubs,  &c.  but  all  the  forest 
trees  of  the  United  States  should  be  cultivated.  The  great  Lin- 
naeus of  Upsal  enlarged  the  commerce  of  Sweden,  by  his  discov- 
eries in  natural  history.  He  once  saved  the  Swedish  navy  by  find- 
ing out  the  time  in  which  a  worm  laid  its  eggs,  and  recommend- 
ing the  immersion  of  the  timber,  of  which  the  ships  were  built, 
at  that  season  wholly  under  water.  So  great  were  the  services 
this  illustrious  naturalist  rendered  his  country  by  the  application 
of  his  knowledge  to  agriculture,  manufactures  and  commerce, 
that  the  present  king  of  Sweden  pronounced  an  eulogimn  upon 
him  from  his  throne,  soon  after  his  death. 

9.  Philology  which  should  include,  besides  rhetoric  and  criti- 
cism, lectures  upon  the  construction  and  pronunciation  of  the 
English  language.  Instruction  in  this  branch  of  literature  will 
become  the  more  necessary  in  America,  as  our  intercourse  must 
soon  cease  with  the  bar,  the  stage  and  the  pulpits  of  Great  Britain, 
from  whence  we  received  our  knowledge  of  the  pronunciation  of 
the  English  language.  Even  modern  English  books  should  cease 
to  be  the  models  of  style  in  the  United  States.  The  present  is  the 
age  of  simplicity  in  writing  in  America.  The  turgid  style  of  John- 
son— the  purple  glare  of  Gibbon,  and  even  the  studied  and  thick 
set  metaphors  of  Junius,  are  all  equally  unnatural,  and  should 
not  be  admitted  into  our  country.  .  .  .  The  cultivation  and  per- 
fection of  our  language  becomes  a  matter  of  consequence  when 
viewed  in  another  light.  It  will  probably  be  spoken  by  more 


ON  EDUCATION  103 

people  in  the  course  of  two  or  three  centuries,  than  ever  spoke 
any  one  language  at  one  time  since  the  creation  of  the  world. 
When  we  consider  the  influence  which  the  prevalence  of  only 
two  languages,  viz.  the  English  and  the  Spanish,  in  the  extensive 
regions  of  North  and  South  America,  will  have  upon  manners, 
commerce,  knowledge  and  civilization,  scenes  of  human  happi- 
ness and  glory  open  before  us,  which  elude  from  their  magnitude 
the  utmost  grasp  of  the  human  understanding. 

10.  The  German  and  French  languages  should  be  taught  in 
this  University.  The  many  excellent  books  which  are  written  in 
both  these  languages  upon  all  subjects,  more  especially  upon 
those  which  relate  to  the  advancement  of  national  improvements 
of  all  kinds,  will  render  a  knowledge  of  them  an  essential  part 
of  the  education  of  a  legislator  of  the  United  States. 

1 1 .  All  those  athletic  and  manly  exercises  should  likewise  be 
taught  in  the  University,  which  are  calculated  to  impart  health, 
strength,  and  elegance  to  the  human  body. 

To  render  the  instruction  of  our  youth  as  easy  and  extensive 
as  possible  in  several  of  the  above  mentioned  branches  of  litera- 
ture, let  four  young  men  of  good  education  and  active  minds  be 
sent  abroad  at  the  public  expense,  to  collect  and  transmit  to  the 
professors  of  the  said  branches  all  the  improvements  that  are 
daily  made  in  Europe,  in  agriculture,  manufactures  and  com- 
merce, and  in  the  art  of  war  and  practical  government.  This 
measure  is  rendered  the  more  necessary  from  the  distance  of  the 
United  States  from  Europe,  by  which  means  the  rays  of  knowl- 
edge strike  the  United  States  so  partially,  that  they  can  be 
brought  to  a  useful  focus,  only  by  employing  suitable  persons 
to  collect  and  transmit  them  to  our  country.  It  is  in  this  manner 
that  the  northern  nations  of  Europe  have  imported  so  much 
knowledge  from  their  southern  neighbours,  that  the  history  of 
agriculture,  manufactures,  commerce,  revenues  and  military  arts 
of  one  of  these  nations  will  soon  be  alike  applicable  to  all  of  them. 

Besides  sending  four  young  men  abroad  to  collect  and  trans- 
mit knowledge  for  the  benefit  of  our  country,  two  young  men 
of  suitable  capacities  should  be  employed  at  the  public  expense 


io4       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

in  exploring  the  vegetable,  mineral  and  animal  productions  of 
our  country,  in  procuring  histories  and  samples  of  each  of  them, 
and  in  transmitting  them  to  the  professor  of  natural  history.  It 
is  in  consequence  of  the  discoveries  made  by  young  gentlemen 
employed  for  these  purposes,  that  Sweden,  Denmark  and  Russia 
have  extended  their  manufactures  and  commerce,  so  as  to  rival 
in  both  the  oldest  nations  in  Europe. 

Let  the  Congress  allow  a  liberal  salary  to  the  Principal  of  this 
university.  Let  it  be  his  business  to  govern  the  students,  and  to 
inspire  them  by  his  conversation,  and  by  occasional  public  dis- 
courses, with  federal  and  patriotic  sentiments.  Let  this  Principal 
be  a  man  of  extensive  education,  liberal  manners  and  dignified 
deportment. 

Let  the  Professors  of  each  of  the  branches  that  have  been 
mentioned,  have  a  moderate  salary  of  ijo/.  or  2oo/.  a  year,  and 
let  them  depend  upon  the  number  of  their  pupils  to  supply  the 
deficiency  of  their  maintenance  from  their  salaries.  Let  each 
pupil  pay  for  each  course  of  lectures  two  or  three  guineas. 

Let  the  degrees  conferred  in  this  university  receive  a  new 
name,  that  shall  designate  the  design  of  an  education  for  civil 
and  public  life. 

In  thirty  years  after  this  university  is  established,  let  an  act 
of  Congress  be  passed  to  prevent  any  person  being  chosen  or 
appointed  into  power  or  office,  who  has  not  taken  a  degree  in  the 
federal  university.  We  require  certain  qualifications  in  lawyers, 
physicians  and  clergymen,  before  we  commit  our  property,  our 
lives  or  our  souls  to  their  care.  We  even  refuse  to  commit  the 
charge  of  a  ship  to  a  pilot,  who  cannot  produce  a  certificate  of 
his  education  and  knowledge  in  his  business.  Why  then  should 
we  commit  our  country,  which  includes  liberty,  property,  life, 
wives  and  children,  to  men  who  cannot  produce  vouchers  of 
their  qualifications  for  the  important  trust?  We  are  restrained 
from  injuring  ourselves  by  employing  quacks  in  law;  why  should 
we  not  be  restrained  in  like  manner,  by  law,  from  employing 
quacks  in  government? 

Should 'this  plan  of  a  federal  university  or  one  like  it  be 


ON  EDUCATION  105 

adopted,  then  will  begin  the  golden  age  of  the  United  States. 
While  the  business  of  education  in  Europe  consists  in  lectures 
upon  the  ruins  of  Palmyra  and  the  antiquities  of  Herculaneum, 
or  in  disputes  about  Hebrew  points,  Greek  particles,  or  the 
accent  and  quantity  of  the  Roman  language,  the  youth  of  Amer- 
ica will  be  employed  in  acquiring  those  branches  of  knowledge 
which  increase  the  conveniences  of  life,  lessen  human  misery, 
improve  our  country,  promote  population,  exalt  the  human  un- 
derstanding, and  establish  domestic,  social  and  political  happiness. 

Let  it  not  be  said,  "that  this  is  not  the  time  for  such  a  literary 
and  political  establishment.  Let  us  first  restore  public  credit, 
by  funding  or  paying  our  debts,  let  us  regulate  our  militia,  let 
us  build  a  navy,  and  let  us  protect  and  extend  our  commerce. 
After  this,  we  shall  have  leisure  and  money  to  establish  a  Univer- 
sity for  the  purposes  that  have  been  mentioned."  This  is  false 
reasoning.  We  shall  never  restore  public  credit,  regulate  our 
militia,  build  a  navy,  or  revive  our  commerce,  until  we  remove 
the  ignorance  and  prejudices,  and  change  the  habits  of  our  citi- 
zens, and  this  can  never  be  done  'till  we  inspire  them  with  federal 
principles,  which  can  only  be  effected  by  our  young  men  meet- 
ing and  spending  two  or  three  years  together  in  a  national  Uni- 
versity, and  afterwards  disseminating  their  knowledge  and  prin- 
ciples through  every  county,  township  and  village  of  the  United 
States.  'Till  this  is  done — Senators  and  Representatives  of  the 
United  States,  you  will  undertake  to  make  bricks  without  straw. 
Your  supposed  union  in  Congress  will  be  a  rope  of  sand.  The 
inhabitants  of  Massachusetts  began  the  business  of  government 
by  establishing  the  University  of  Cambridge,  and  the  wisest 
Kings  in  Europe  have  always  found  their  literary  institutions  the 
surest  means  of  establishing  their  power  as  well  as  of  promoting 
the  prosperity  of  their  people. 

These  hints  for  establishing  the  Constitution  and  happiness 
of  the  United  States  upon  a  permanent  foundation,  are  submitted 
to  the  friends  of  the  federal  government  in  each  of  the  states, 
by  a  private 

CITIZEN  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 


THE     AMUSEMENTS     AND 

PUNISHMENTS    WHICH    ARE 

PROPER    FOR    SCHOOLS 

Addressed  to  George  Clymer,  Esq. 


DEAR  SIR, 

The  last  time  I  had  the  pleasure  of  being  in  your  company, 
you  did  me  the  honour  to  request  my  opinion  upon  the  AMUSE- 
MENTS and  PUNISHMENTS  which  are  proper  for  schools.  The 
subjects  are  of  a  very  opposite  nature,  but  I  shall  endeavour  to 
comply  with  your  wishes,  by  sending  you  a«few  thoughts  upon 
each  of  them.  I  am  sure  you  will  not  reject  my  opinions  because 
they  are  contrary  to  received  practices,  for  I  know  that  you  are 
accustomed  to  think  for  yourself,  and  that  every  proposition  that 
has  for  its  objects  the  interests  of  humanity  and  your  country, 
will  be  treated  by  you  with  attention  and  candor. 

I  shall  begin  with  the  subjects  of  AMUSEMENTS.  Montesquieu 
informs  us  that  the  exercises  of  the  last  day  of  the  life  of  Epami- 
nondas,  were  the  same  as  his  amusements  in  his  youth.  Herein 
we  have  an  epitome  of  the  perfection  of  education.  The  amuse- 
ments of  Epaminondas  were  of  a  military  nature;  but  as  the  pro- 
fession of  arms  is  the  business  of  only  a  small  part  of  mankind, 
and  happily  much  less  necessary  in  the  United  States  than  in 
ancient  Greece,  I  would  propose  that  the  amusements  of  our 
youth,  at  school,  should  consist  of  such  exercises  as  will  be  most 
subservient  to  their  future  employments  in  life*  These  are; 
i.  agriculture;  2.  mechanical  occupations;  and  3.  the  business 
of  the  learned  professions. 

1 06 


ON  EDUCATION  107 

I.  There  is  a  variety  in  the  employments  of  agriculture  which 
may  readily  be  suited  to  the  genius,  taste,  and  strength  of  young 
people.  An  experiment  has  been  made  of  the  efficacy  of  these 
employments,  as  amusements,  in  the  Methodist  College  at  Abing- 
ton,  in  Maryland;  and,  I  have  been  informed,  with  the  happiest 
effects.  A  large  lot  is  divided  between  the  scholars,  and  premiums 
are  adjudged  to  those  of  them  who  produce  the  most  vegetables 
from  their  grounds,  or  who  keep  them  in  the  best  order. 

II.  As  the  employments  of  agriculture  cannot  afford  amuse- 
ment at  all  seasons  of  the  year,  or  in  cities  I  would  propose, 
that  children  should  be  allured  to  seek  amusements  in  such  of  the 
mechanical  arts  as  are  suited  to  their  strength  and  capacities. 
Where  is  the  boy  who  does  not  delight  in  the  use  of  a  hammer — 
a  chisel — or  a  saw?  and  who  has  not  enjoyed  a  high  degree  of 
pleasure  in  his  youth,  in  constructing  a  miniature  house? 

III.  To  train  the  youth  who  are  intended  for  the  learned  pro- 
fessions or  for  merchandize,  to  the  duties  of  their  future  employ- 
ments, by  means  of  useful  amusements,  which  are  related  to  those 
employments,  will  be  impracticable;  but  their  amusements  may 
be  derived  from  cultivating  a  spot  of  ground;  for  where  is  the 
lawyer,  the  physician,  the  divine,  or  the  merchant,  who  has  not 
indulged  or  felt  a  passion,  in  some  part  of  his  life,  for  rural  im- 
provements?— Indeed  I  conceive  the  seeds  of  knowledge  in  agri- 
culture will  be  most  productive,  when  they  are  planted  in  the 
minds  of  this  class  of  scholars. 

I  have  only  to  add  under  this  head,  that  the  common  amuse- 
ments of  children  have  no  connection  with  their  future  occupa- 
tions. Many  of  them  injure  their  clothes,  some  of  them  waste  their 
strength,  and  impair  their  health,  and  all  of  them  prove  more  or 
less,  the  means  of  producing  noise,  or  of  exciting  angry  passions, 
both  of  which  are  calculated  to  beget  vulgar  manners.  The 
Methodists  have  wisely  banished  every  species  of  play  from  their 
college.  Even  the  healthy  and  pleasurable  exercise  of  swimming, 
is  not  permitted  to  their  scholars,  except  in  the  presence  of  one 
of  their  masters. 

Do  not  think  me  too  strict  if  I  here  exclude  gunning  from 


io8       SELECTED  WRITINQS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

the  amusements  of  young  men.  My  objections  to  it  are  as  fol- 
lows; 

1.  It  hardens  the  heart,  by  inflicting  unnecessary  pain  and 
death  upon  animals. 

2.  It  is  unnecessary  in  civilized  society,  where  animal  food 
may  be  obtained  from  domestic  animals,  with  greater  facility. 

3.  It  consumes  a  great  deal  of  time,  and  thus  creates  habits 
of  idleness. 

4.  It  frequently  leads  young  men  into  low,  and  bad  company. 

5.  By  imposing  long  abstinence  from  food,  it  leads  to  intem- 
perance in  eating,  which  naturally  leads  to  intemperance  in 
drinking. 

6.  It  exposes  to  fevers,  and  accidents.  The  newspapers  are 
occasionally  filled  with  melancholy  accounts  of,  the  latter,  and 
every  physician  must  have  met  with  frequent  and  dangerous  in- 
stances of  the  former,  in  the  course  of  his  practice. 

I  know  the  early  use  of  a  gun  is  recommended  in  our  coun- 
try, to  teach  our  young  men  the  use  of  firearms,  and  thereby  to 
prepare  them  for  war  and  battle.  But  why  should  we  inspire  our 
youth,  by  such  exercises,  with  hostile  ideas  towards  their  fellow 
creatures? — Let  us  rather  instill  into  their  minds  sentiments  of 
universal  benevolence  to  men  of  all  nations  and  colours.  Wars 
originate  in  error  and  vice.  Let  us  eradicate  these,  by  proper 
modes  of  education,  and  wars  will  cease  to  be  necessary  in  our 
country.  The  divine  author  and  lover  of  peace  "will  then  suffer 
no  man  to  do  us  wrong;  yea,  he  will  reprove  kings  for  our  sake, 
saying,  touch  not  my  anointed  and  do  my  people  no  harm." 
Should  the  nations  with  whom  war  is  a  trade,  approach  our 
coasts,  they  will  retire  from  us,  as  Satan  did  from  our  Saviour, 
when  he  came  to  assault  him;  and  for  the  same  reason,  because 
they  will  "find  nothing  in  us"  congenial  to  their  malignant  dis- 
positions; for  the  flames  of  war  can  be  spread  from  one  nation 
to  another,  only  by  the  conducting  mediums  of  vice  and 
error. 

I  have  hinted  at  the  injury  which  is  done  to  the  health  of 
young  people  by  some  of  their  amusements;  but  there  is  a  practice 


ON  EDUCATION  109 

common  in  all  our  schools,  which  does  more  harm  to  their  bodies 
than  all  the  amusements  that  can  be  named,  and  that  is,  obliging 
them  to  sit  too  long  in  one  place,  or  crowding  too  many  of  them 
together  in  one  room.  By  means  of  the  former,  the  growth  and 
shape  of  the  body  have  been  impaired;  and  by  means  of  the  latter, 
the  seeds  of  fevers  have  often  been  engendered  in  schools.  In 
the  course  of  my  business,  I  have  been  called  to  many  hundred 
children  who  have  been  seized  with  indispositions  in  school, 
which  evidently  arose  from  the  action  of  morbid  effluvia,  pro- 
duced by  the  confined  breath  and  perspiration  of  too  great  a 
number  of  children  in  one  room.  To  obviate  these  evils,  children 
should  be  permitted,  after  they  have  said  their  lessons,  to  amuse 
themselves  in  the  open  air,  in  some  of  the  useful  and  agreeable 
exercises  which  have  been  mentioned.  Their  minds  will  be 
strengthened,  as  well  as  their  bodies  relieved  by  them.  To  oblige 
a  sprightly  boy  to  sit  seven  hours  in  a  day,  with  his  little  arms 
pinioned  to  his  sides,  and  his  neck  unnaturally  bent  towards  his 
book;  and  for  no  crime! — what  cruelty  and  folly  are  manifested, 
by  such  an  absurd  mode  of  instructing  or  governing  young 
people! 

I  come  next  to  say  a  few  words  upon  the  subject  of  PUN- 
ISHMENTS which  are  proper  in  schools. 

In  barbarous  ages  every  thing  partook  of  the  complexion 
of  the  times.  Civil,  ecclesiastical,  military,  and  domestic  punish- 
ments were  all  of  a  cruel  nature.  With  the  progress  of  reason  and 
Christianity,  punishments  of  all  kinds  have  become  less  severe. 
Solitude  and  labor  are  now  substituted  in  many  countries,  with 
success,  in  the  room  of  the  whipping-post  and  the  gallows. — The 
innocent  infirmities  of  human  nature  are  no  longer  proscribed, 
and  punished  by  the  church.  Discipline,  consisting  in  the  vigi- 
lance of  officers,  has  lessened  the  supposed  necessity  of  military 
executions;  and  husbands — fathers — and  masters  now  blush  at 
the  history  of  the  times,  when  wives,  children,  and  servants,  were 
governed  only  by  force.  But  unfortunately  this  spirit  of  human- 
ity and  civilization  has  not  reached  our  schools.  The  rod  is  yet 
the  principal  instrument  of  governing  them,  and  a  school-master 


i  io       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

remains  the  only  despot  now  known  in  free  countries.  Perhaps 
it  is  because  the  little  subjects  of  their  arbitrary  and  capricious 
power  have  not  been  in  a  condition  to  complain.  I  shall  en- 
deavour therefore  to  plead  their  cause,  and  to  prove  that  cor- 
poral punishments  (except  to  children  under  four  or  five  years 
of  age)  are  never  necessary,  and  always  hurtful,  in  schools. — 
The  following  arguments  I  hope  will  be  sufficient  to  establish 
this  proposition. 

1 .  Children  are  seldom  sent  to  school  before  they  are  capable 
of  feeling  the  force  of  rational  or  moral  obligation.  They  may 
therefore  be  deterred  from  committing  offences,  by  motives  less 
disgraceful  than  the  fear  of  corporal  punishments. 

2.  By  correcting  children  for  ignorance  and  negligence  in 
school,  their  ideas  of  improper  and  Immoral  actions  are  con- 
founded, and  hence  the  moral  faculty  becomes  weakened  in  after 
life.  It  would  not  be  more  cruel  or  absurd  to  inflict  the  punish- 
ment of  the  whipping-post  upon  a  man,  for  not  dressing  fashion- 
ably or  neatly,  than  it  is  to  ferule  a  boy  for  blotting  his  copy 
book,  or  mis-spelling  a  word. 

3.  If  the  natural  affection  of  a  parent  is  sometimes  insufficient, 
to  restrain  the  violent  effects  of  a  sudden  gust  of  anger  upon  a 
child,  how  dangerous  must  the  power  of  correcting  children  be 
when  lodged  in  the  hands  of  a  school-master,  in  whose  anger 
there  is  no  mixture  of  parental  affection!  Perhaps  those  parents 
act  most  wisely,  who  never  trust  themselves  to  inflict  corporal 
punishments  upon  their  children,  after  they  are  four  or  five  years 
old,  but  endeavour  to  punish,  and  reclaim  them,  by  confinement, 
or  by  abridging  them  of  some  of  their  usual  gratifications,  in 
dress,  food  or  amusements. 

4.  Injuries  are  sometimes  done  to  the  bodies,  and  sometimes 
to  the  intellects  of  children,  by  corporal  punishments.  I  recollect, 
when  a  boy,  to  have  lost  a  school-mate,  who  was  said  to  have 
died  in  consequence  of  a  severe  whipping  he  received  in  school. 
At  that  time  I  did  not  believe  it  possible,  but  from  what  I  now 
know  of  the  disproportion  between  the  violent  emotions  of  the 
mind,  and  the  strength  of  the  body  in  children,  I  am  disposed 


ON  EDUCATION  in 

to  believe,  that  not  only  sickness,  but  that  even  death  may  be 
induced,  by  the  convulsions  of  a  youthful  mind,  worked  up  to 
a  high  sense  of  shame  and  resentment. 

The  effects  of  thumping  the  head,  boxing  the  ears,  and 
pulling  the  hair,  in  impairing  the  intellects,  by  means  of  injuries 
done  to  the  brain,  are  too  obvious  to  be  mentioned. 

5.  Where  there  is  shame,  says  Dr.  Johnson,  there  may  be 
virtue.  But  corporal  punishments,  inflicted  at  school,  have  a 
tendency  to  destroy  the  sense  of  shame,  and  thereby  to  destroy 
all  moral  sensibility.  The  boy  that  has  been  often  publicly 
whipped  at  school,  is  under  great  obligations  to  his  maker,  and 
his  parents,  if  he  afterwards  escape  the  whipping-post  or  the 
gallows. 

6.  Corporal  punishments,  inflicted  at  school,  tend  to  beget  a 
spirit  of  violence  in  boys  towards  each  other,  which  often  fol- 
lows them  through  life;  but  they  more  certainly  beget  a  spirit 
of  hatred,  or  revenge,  towards  their  masters,  which  too  often 
becomes  a  ferment  of  the  same  baneful  passions  towards  other 
people.  The  celebrated  Dr.  afterwards  Baron  Mailer  declared, 
that  he  never  saw,  without  horror,  during  the  remaining  part 
of  his  life,  a  school-master,  who  had  treated  him  with  unmerited 
severity,  when  he  was  only  ten  years  old.  A  similar  anecdote  is 
related  of  the  famous  M.  de  Condamine.  I  think  I  have  known 
several  instances  of  this  vindictive,  or  indignant  spirit,  to  con- 
tinue towards  a  cruel  and  tyrannical  school-master,  in  persons 
who  were  advanced  in  life,  and  who  were  otherwise  of  gentle 
and  forgiving  dispositions. 

7.  Corporal  punishments,  inflicted  at  schools,  beget  a  hatred 
to  instruction  in  young  people.  I  have  sometimes  suspected  that 
the  Devil,  who  knows  how  great  an  enemy  knowledge  is  to  his 
kingdom,  has  had  the  address  to  make  the  world  believe  that 
feruling,  pulling  and  boxing  ears,  cudgelling,  horsing,  &c.  and, 
in  boarding-schools,  a  little  starving,  are  all  absolutely  necessary 
for  the  government  of  young  people,  on  purpose  that  he  might 
make  both  schools,  and  school-masters  odious,  and  thereby  keep 
our  world  in  ignorance;  for  ignorance  is  the  best  means  the 


ii2       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

Devil  ever  contrived,  to  keep  up  the  number  of  his  subjects  in 
our  world. 

8.  Corporal  punishments  are  not  only  hurtful,  but  altogether 
unnecessary,  in  schools.  Some  of  the  most  celebrated  and  suc- 
cessful school-masters,  that  I  have  known,  never  made  use  of 
them. 

9.  The  fear  of  corporal  punishments,  by  debilitating  the 
body,  produces  a  corresponding  debility  in  the  mind,  which 
contracts  its  capacity  of  acquiring  knowledge.  This  capacity  is 
enlarged  by  the  tone  which  the  mind  acquires  from  the  action 
of  hope,  love,  and  confidence  upon  it;  and  all  these  passions 
might  easily  be  cherished,  by  a  prudent  and  enlightened  school- 
master. 

10.  As  there  should  always  be  a  certain  ratio  between  the 
strength  of  a  remedy,  and  the  excitability  of  the  body  in  dis- 
eases, so  there  should  be  a  similar  ratio  between  the  force  em- 
ployed in  the  government  of  a  school,  and  the  capacities  and 
tempers  of  children.  A  kind  rebuke,  like  fresh  air  in  a  fainting 
fit,  is  calculated  to  act  upon  a  young  mind  with  more  effect, 
than  stimulants  of  the  greatest  power;  but  corporal  punishments 
level  all  capacities  and  tempers,  as  quack-medicines  do,  all  con- 
stitutions and  diseases.  They  dishonour  and  degrade  our  species; 
for  they  suppose  a  total  absence  of  all  moral  and  intellectual 
feeling  from  the  mind.  Have  we  not  often  seen  dull  children 
suddenly  improve,  by  changing  their  schools?   The  reason  is 
obvious.  The  successful  teacher  only  accommodated  his  manner 
and  discipline  to  the  capacities  of  his  scholars. 

1 1.  I  conceive  corporal  punishments,  inflicted  in  an  arbitrary 
manner,  to  be  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  liberty,  and  that  they 
should  not  be  tolerated  in  a  free  government.  Why  should  not 
children  be  protected  from  violence  and  injuries,  as  well  as  white 
and  black  servants? — Had  I  influence  enough  in  our  legislature 
to  obtain  only  a  single  law,  it  should  be  to  make  the  punishment 
for  striking  a  school  boy,  the  same  as  for  assaulting  and  beating 
an  adult  member  of  society. 

To  all  these  arguments  I  know  some  well  disposed  people 


ON  EDUCATION  113 

will  reply,  that  the  rod  has  received  a  divine  commission  from 
the  sacred  scriptures,  as  the  instrument  of  correcting  children. 
To  this  I  answer  that  the  ro d,  in  the  Old  Testament,  by  a  very 
common  figure  in  rhetoric,  stands  for  punishments  of  any  kind, 
just  as  the  sword,  in  the  New  Testament,  stands  for  the  faithful 
.and  general  administration  of  justice,  in  such  a  way  as  is  most 
calculated  to  reform  criminals,  and  to  prevent  crimes. 

The  following  method  of  governing  a  school,  I  apprehend, 
would  be  attended  with  much  better  effects,  than  that  which  I 
have  endeavoured  to  show  to  be  contrary  to  reason,  humanity, 
religion,  liberty,  and  the  experience  of  the  wisest  and  best 
teachers  in  the  world. 

Let  a  school-master  endeavour,  in  the  first  place,  to  acquire 
the  confidence  of  his  scholars,  by  a  prudent  deportment.  Let  him 
learn  to  command  his  passions  and  temper,  at  all  times,  in  his 
school, — Let  him  treat  the  name  of  the  Supreme  Being  with 
reverence,  as  often  as  it  occurs  in  books,  or  in  conversation  with 
his  scholars. — Let  him  exact  a  respectful  behaviour  towards  him- 
self, in  his  school;  but  in  the  intervals  of  school  hours,  let  him 
treat  his  scholars  with  gentleness  and  familiarity.  If  he  should 
even  join  in  their  amusements,  he  would  not  lose,  by  his  con- 
descension, any  part  of  his  authority  over  them.  But  to  secure 
their  affection  and  respect  more  perfectly,  let  him,  once  or  twice 
a  year,  lay  out  a  small  sum  of  money  in  pen-knives,  and  books, 
and  distribute  them  among  his  scholars,  as  rewards  for  pro- 
ficiency in  learning,  and  for  good  behaviour.  If  these  prudent 
and  popular  measures  should  fail  of  preventing  offences  at 
school,  then  let  the  following  modes  of  punishment  be  adopted. 

1.  Private  admonition.  By  this  mode  of  rebuking,  we  imitate 
the  conduct  of  the  divine  Being  towards  his  offending  creatures, 
for  his  first  punishment  is  always  inflicted  privately,  by  means 
of  the  still  voice  of  conscience. 

2.  Confinement  after  school-hours  are  ended;  but  with  the 
knowledge  of  the  parents  of  the  children. 

3.  Holding  a  small  sign  of  disgrace,  of  any  kind,  in  the 
middle  of  the  floor,  in  the  presence  of  a  whole  school. 


1 14       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

If  these  punishments  fail  of  reclaiming  a  bad  boy,  he  should 
be  dismissed  from  school,  to  prevent  his  corrupting  his  school- 
mates. It  is  the  business  of  parents,  and  not  of  school-masters, 
to  use  the  last  means  for  eradicating  idleness  and  vice  from  their 
children. 

The  world  was  created  in  love.  It  is  sustained  by  love.  Na- 
tions and  families  that  are  happy,  are  made  so  only  by  love.  Lei 
us  extend  this  divine  principle,  to  those  little  communities  whicn 
we  call  schools.  Children  are  capable  of  loving  in  a  high  degree. 
They  may  therefore  be  governed  by  love. 

The  occupation  of  a  school-master  is  truly  dignified.  He  is, 
next  to  mothers,  the  most  important  member  of  civil  society. 
Why  then  is  there  so  little  rank  connected  with  that  occupation? 
Why  do  we  treat  it  with  so  much  neglect  or  Contempt?  It  is 
because  the  voice  of  reason,  in  the  human  heart,  associates  with 
it  the  idea  of  despotism  and  violence.  Let  school-masters  cease 
to  be  tyrants,  and  they  will  soon  enjoy  the  respect  and  rank, 
which  are  naturally  connected  with  their  profession. 

We  are  grossly  mistaken  in  looking  up  wholly  to  our  gov- 
ernments, and  even  to  ministers  of  the  gospel,  to  promote  public 
and  private  order  in  society.  Mothers  and  school-masters  plant 
the  seeds  of  nearly  all  the  good  and  evil  which  exist  in  our  world. 
Its  reformation  must  therefore  be  begun  in  nurseries  and  in 
schools.  If  the  habits  we  acquire  there,  were  to  have  no  influence 
upon  our  future  happiness,  yet  the  influence  they  have  upon  our 
governments,  is  a  sufficient  reason  why  we  ought  to  introduce 
new  modes,  as  well  as  new  objects  of  education  into  our  country. 

You  have  lately  been  employed  in  an  attempt  to  perpetuate 
our  existence  as  a  free  people,  by  establishing  the  means  of 
national  credit  and  defense;  *  but  these  are  feeble  bulwarks 
against  slavery,  compared  with  habits  of  labor  and  virtue,  dis- 
seminated among  our  young  people.  Let  us  establish  schools  for 
this  purpose,  in  every  township  in  the  United  States,  and  con- 

*  Mr.  Clymer  was  one  of  the  Representatives  of  Pennsylvania,  in  the 
first  Congress  of  the  United  States  which  met  in  New  York,  in  the  year 
1789. 


ON  EDUCATION  115 

form  them  to  reason,  humanity,  and  the  present  state  of  society 
in  America.  Then,  Sir,  will  the  generations  who  are  to  follow 
us,  realize  the  precious  ideas  of  the  dignity  and  excellence  of 
republican  forms  of  government,  which  I  well  recollect  you 
cherished  with  so  much  ardor,  in  the  beginning  of  the  American 
Revolution,  and  which  you  have  manifested  ever  since,  both 
by  your  public  and  private  conduct. 

We  suffer  so  much  from  traditional  error  of  various  kinds, 
in  education,  morals,  and  government,  that  I  have  been  led  to 
wish,  that  it  were  possible  for  us  to  have  schools  established, 
in  the  United  States,  for  teaching  the  art  of  forgetting.  I  think 
three-fourths  of  all  our  school-masters,  divines,  and  legislators 
would  profit  very  much,  by  spending  two  or  three  years  in  such 
useful  institutions. 

An  apology  may  seem  necessary,  not  only  for  the  length  of 
this  letter,  but  for  some  of  the  opinions  contained  in  it.  I  know 
how  apt  mankind  are  to  brand  every  proposition  for  innovation, 
as  visionary  and  Utopian.  But  good  men  should  not  be  dis- 
couraged, by  such  epithets,  from  their  attempts  to  combat  vice 
and  error.  There  never  was  an  improvement,  in  any  art  or  sci- 
ence, nor  even  a  proposal  for  meliorating  the  condition  of  man, 
in  any  age  or  country,  that  has  not  been  considered  in  the  light 
of  what  has  been  called,  since  Sir  Thomas  More's  time,  an 
Utopian  scheme.  The  application  of  the  magnet  to  navigation, 
and  of  steam  to  mechanical  purposes,  have  both  been  branded 
as  Utopian  projects.  The  great  idea  in  the  mind  of  Columbus, 
of  exploring  a  new  world,  was  long  viewed,  in  most  of  the 
courts  of  Europe,  as  the  dream  of  a  visionary  sailor.  But  why 
do  we  go  to  ancient  times,  for  proofs  of  important  innovations 
in  human  affairs  having  been  treated  as  Utopian  schemes.  You 
and  I  recollect  the  time,  when  the  abolition  of  Negro  slavery 
in  our  state,  as  also  when  the  independence  of  the  United  States, 
and  the  present  wise  and  happy  confederacy  of  our  republics, 
were  all  considered  by  many  of  our  sober  prudent  men,  as  sub- 
jects of  an  Utopian  nature. 

If  those  benefactors  of  mankind,  who  have  levelled  moun- 


ii6       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

tains  in  the  great  road  of  human  life,  by  the  discoveries  or 
labors  which  have  been  mentioned,  have  been  stigmatized  with 
obloquy,  as  visionary  projectors,  why  should  an  individual  be 
afraid  of  similar  treatment,  who  has  only  attempted  to  give  to 
that  road,  from  its  beginning,  a  straight  direction. 

If  but  a  dozen  men  like  yourself,  approve  of  my  opinions, 
it  will  overbalance  the  most  illiberal  opposition  they  may  meet 
with,  from  all  the  learned  vulgar  of  the  United  States. 

For  the  benefit  of  those  persons  who  consider  opinions  as 
improved,  like  certain  liquids,  by  time;  and  who  are  opposed  to 
innovations,  only  because  they  did  not  occur  to  their  ancestors, 
I  shall  conclude  my  letter  with  an  anecdote  of  a  minister  in 
London,  who,  after  employing  a  long  sermon,  in  controverting 
what  he  supposed  to  be  an  heretical  opinion,  concluded  it  with 
the  following  words,  "I  tell  you,  I  tell  you  my  brethren, — I  tell 
you  again, — that  an  old  error  is  better  than  a  new  truth." 


THE    BIBLE    AS    A    SCHOOL    BOOK 

•Addressed  to  the  Rev.  ]ere?ny  Bel  knap,  of  Boston 


DEAR  SIR, 

It  is  now  several  months,  since  I  promised  to  give  you  my 
reasons  for  preferring  the  Bible  as  a  school  book,  to  all  other 
compositions.  I  shall  not  trouble  you  with  an  apology  for  my 
delaying  so  long  to  comply  with  my  promise,  but  shall  proceed 
immediately  to  the  subject  of  my  letter. 

Before  I  state  my  arguments  in  favour  of  teaching  children 
to  read  by  means  of  the  Bible,  I  shall  assume  the  five  following 
propositions. 

I.  That  Christianity  is  the  only  true  and  perfect  religion,  and 
that  in  proportion  as  mankind  adopt  its  principles,  and  obey  its 
precepts,  they  will  be  wise,  and  happy. 

II.  That  a  better  knowledge  of  this  religion  is  to  be  acquired 
by  reading  the  bible,  than  in  any  other  way. 

III.  That  the  bible  contains  more  knowledge  necessary  to 
man  in  his  present  state,  than  any  other  book  in  the  world. 

IV.  That  knowledge  is  most  durable,  and  religious  instruc- 
tion most  useful,  when  imparted  in  early  life, 

V.  That  the  Bible,  wheg  not  read  in  schools,  is  seldom  read 
in  any  subsequent  period  of  life. 

My  arguments  in  favor  of  the  use  of  the  Bible  as  a  school 
book  are  founded,  I.  In  the  constitution  of  the  human  mind. 

i .  The  memory  is  the  first  faculty  which  opens  in  the  minds 
of  children.  Of  how  much  consequence,  then,  must  it  be,  to 


u8       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

impress  it  with  the  great  truths  of  Christianity,  before  it  is  pre- 
occupied with  less  interesting  subjects!  As  all  the  liquors,  which 
are  poured  into  a  cup,  generally  taste  of  that  which  first  filled  it, 
so  all  the  knowledge,  which  is  added  to  that  which  is  treasured 
up  in  the  memory  from  the  Bible,  generally  receives  an  agreeable 
and  useful  tincture  from  it. 

2.  There  is  a  peculiar  aptitude  in  the  minds  of  children  for 
religious  knowledge.  I  have  constantly  found  them  in  the  first 
six  or  seven  years  of  their  lives,  more  inquisitive  upon  religious 
subjects,  than  upon  any  others:  and  an  ingenious  instructor  of 
youth  has  informed  me,  that  he  has  found  young  children  more 
capable  of  receiving  just  ideas  upon  the  most  difficult  tenets  of 
religion,  than  upon  the  most  simple  branches  of  human  knowl- 
edge. It  would  be  strange  if  it  were  otherwise;  for  God  creates  all 
his  means  to  suit  all  his  ends.  There  must  of  course  be  a  fitness 
between  the  human  mind,  and  the  truths  which  are  essential  to 
its  happiness. 

3.  The  influence  of  prejudice  is  derived  from  the  impressions, 
which  are  made  upon  the  mind  in  early  life;  prejudices  are  of 
two  kinds,  true  and  false.  In  a  world  where  false  prejudices  do 
so  much  mischief,  it  would  discover  great  weakness  not  to  oppose 
them,  by  such  as  are  true. 

I  grant  that  many  men  have  rejected  the  prejudices  derived 
from  the  Bible:  but  I  believe  no  man  ever  did  so,  without  having 
been  made  wiser  or  better,  by  the  early  operation  of  these  preju- 
dices upon  his  mind.  Every  just  principle  that  is  to  be  found  in 
the  writings  of  Voltaire,  is  borrowed  from  the  Bible:  and  the 
morality  of  the  Deists,  which  has  been  so  much  admired  and 
praised,  is,  I  believe,  in  most  cases,  the  effect  of  habits,  produced 
by  early  instruction  in  the  principles  of  Christianity. 

4.  We  are  subject,  by  a  general^aw  in  our  natures,  to  what 
is  called  habit.  Now  if  the  study  of  the  scriptures  be  necessary  to 
our  happiness  at  any  time  of  our  lives,  the  sooner  we  begin  to 
read  them,  the  more  we  shall  be  attached  to  them;  for  it  is  peculiar 
to  all  the  acts  of  habit,  to  become  easy,  strong  and  agreeable  by 
repetition. 


ON  EDUCATION  119 

5.  It  is  a  law  in  our  natures,  that  we  remember  longest  the 
knowledge  we  acquire  by  the  greatest  number  of  our  senses. 
Now  a  knowledge  of  the  contents  of  the  Bible,  is  acquired  in 
school  by  the  aid  of  the  eyes  and  the  ears-,  for  children  after 
getting  their  lessons,  always  say  them  to  their  masters  in  an 
audible  voice;  of  course  there  is  a  presumption,  that  this  knowl- 
edge will  be  retained  much  longer  than  if  it  had  been  acquired 
in  any  other  way. 

6.  The  interesting  events  and  characters,  recorded  and  de- 
scribed in  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  are  accommodated 
above  all  others  to  seize  upon  all  the  faculties  of  the  minds  of 
children.  The  understanding,  the  memory,  the  imagination,  the 
passions,  and  the  moral  powers,  are  all  occasionally  addressed 
by  the  various  incidents  which  are  contained  in  those  divine 
books,  insomuch  that  not  to  be  delighted  with  them,  is  to  be 
devoid  of  every  principle  of  pleasure  that  exists  in  a  sound 
mind. 

7.  There  is  a  native  love  of  truth  in  the  human  mind.  Lord 
Shaftesbury  says,  that  "truth  is  so  congenial  to  our  minds,  that 
we  love  even  the  shadow  of  it: "  and  Horace,  in  his  rules  for  com- 
posing an  epic  poem,  establishes  the  same  law  in  our  natures,  by 
advising  the  "fictions  in  poetry  to  resemble  truth."  Now  the 
Bible  contains  more  truths  than  any  other  book  in  the  world: 
so  true  is  the  testimony  that  it  bears  of  God  in  his  works  of  crea- 
tion, providence,  and  redemption,  that  it  is  called  truth  itself,  by 
way  of  pre-eminence  above  things  that  are  only  simply  true. 
How  forcibly  are  we  struck  with  the  evidences  of  truth,  in  the 
history  of  the  Jews,  above  what  we  discover  in  the  history  of 
other  nations?  Where  do  we  find  a  hero,  or  an  historian  record 
his  own  faults  or  vices  except  in  the  Old  Testament?  Indeed, 
my  friend,  from  some  accouhts  which  I  have  read  of  the  Ameri- 
can Revolution,  I  begin  to  grow  sceptical  to  all  history  except  to 
that  which  is  contained  in  the  Bible.  Now  if  this  book  be  known 
to  contain  nothing  but  what  is  materially  true,  the  mind  will 
naturally  acquire  a  love  for  it  from  this  circumstance:  and  from 
this  affection  for  the  truths  of  the  Bible,  it  will  acquire  a  dis- 


no      SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

cernment  of  truth  in  other  books,  and  a  preference  of  it  in  all  the 
transactions  of  life. 

VIII.  There  is  a  wonderful  property  in  the  memory,  which 
enables  it  in  old  age,  to  recover  the  knowledge  it  had  acquired 
in  early  life,  after  it  had  been  apparently  forgotten  for  forty  or 
fifty  years.  Of  how  much  consequence,  then,  must  it  be,  to  fill 
the  mind  with  that  species  of  knowledge,  in  childhood  and  youth, 
which,  when  recalled  in  the  decline  of  life,  will  support  the  soul 
under  the  infirmities  of  age,  and  smooth  the  avenues  of  approach- 
ing death?  The  Bible  is  the  only  book  which  is  capable  of  afford- 
ing this  support  to  old  age;  and  it  is  for  this  reason  that  we  find 
it  resorted  to  with  so  much  diligence  and  pleasure  by  such  old 
people  as  have  read  it  in  early  life.  I  can  recollect  many  in- 
stances of  this  kind  in  persons  who  discovered  no  attachment 
to  the  Bible,  in  the  meridian  of  their  lives,  who  have  notwith- 
standing, spent  the  evening  of  them,  in  reading  no  other  book. 
The  late  Sir  John  Pringle,  Physician  to  the  Queen  of  Great 
Britain,  after  passing  a  long  life  in  camps  and  at  court,  closed  it 
by  studying  the  scriptures.  So  anxious  was  he  to  increase  his 
knowledge  in  them,  that  he  wrote  to  Dr.  Michaclis,  a  learned 
professor  of  divinity  in  Germany,  for  an  explanation  of  a  diffi- 
cult text  of  scripture,  a  short  time  before  his  death. 

IX.  My  second  argument  in  favour  of  the  use  of  the  Bible 
in  schools,  is  founded  upon  an  implied  command  of  God,  and 
upon  the  practice  of  several  of  the  wisest  nations  of  the  world. — 
In  the  6th  chapter  of  Deuteronomy,  we  find  the  following 
words,  which  are  directly  to  my  purpose,  "And  thou  shalt  love 
the  Lord  thy  God,  with  all  thy  heart  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and 
with  all  thy  might.  And  these  words  which  I  command  thee  this 
day  shall  be  in  thine  heart.  And  thou  shalt  teach  them  dilige-ntly 
imto  thy  children,  and  shalt  talk  of  them  when  thou  sittest  in 
thine  house,  and  when  thou  walkest  by  the  way,  and  when  thou 
liest  down,  and  when  thou  risest  up." 

It  appears,  moreover,  from  the  history  of  the  Jews,  that  they 
flourished  as  a  nation,  in  proportion  as  they  honored  and  read 


ON  EDUCATION  121 

the  books  of  Moses,  which  contained,  a  written  revelation  of 
the  will  of  God,  to  the  children  of  men.  The  law  was  not  only 
neglected,  but  lost  during  the  general  profligacy  of  manners 
which  accompanied  the  long  and  wicked  reign  of  Manassah.  But 
the  discovery  of  it,  in  the  rubbish  of  the  temple,  by  Josiah,  and 
its  subsequent  general  use,  were  followed  by  a  return  of  national 
virtue  and  prosperity.  We  read  further,  of  the  wonderful  effects 
which  the  reading  of  the  law  by  Iv/ra,  after  his  return  from  his 
captivity  in  Babylon,  had  upon  the  Jews.  They  hung  upon  his 
lips  with  tears,  and  showed  the  sincerity  of  their  repentance,  by 
their  general  reformation. 

The  learning  of  the  Jews,  for  many  years  consisted  in  noth- 
ing but  a  knowledge  of  the  scriptures.  These  were  the  text  books 
of  all  the  instruction  that  was  given  in  the  schools  of  their 
prophets.  It  was  by  means  of  this  general  knowledge  of  their 
law,  that  those  Jews  that  wandered  from  Judea  into  our  coun- 
tries, carried  with  them  and  propagated  certain  ideas  of  the  true 
God  among  all  the  civilized  nations  upon  the  face  of  the  earth. 
And  it  was  from  the  attachment  they  retained  to  the  old  Testa- 
ment, that  they  procured  a  translation  of  it  into  the  Greek  lan- 
guage, after  they  lost  the  Hebrew  tongue,  by  their  long  absence 
from  their  native  country.  The  utility  of  this  translation,  com- 
monly called  the  Scptuagint,  in  facilitating  the  progress  of  the 
gospel,  is  well  known  to  all  who  are  acquainted  with  the  history 
of  the  first  age  of  the  Christian  church. 

But  the  benefits  of  an  early  and  general  acquaintance  with  the 
Bible,  were  not  confined  only  to  the  Jewish  nations.  They  have 
appeared  in  many  countries  in  Europe,  since  the  reformation. 
The  industry,  and  habits  of  order,  which  distinguish  many  of  the 
German  nations,  are  derived  from  their  early  instruction  in  the 
principles  of  Christianity,  by  means  of  the  Bible.  The  moral  and 
enlightened  character  of  the  inhabitants  of  Scotland,  and  of  the 
New  England  states,  appears  to  be  derived  from  the  same  cause. 
If  we  descend  from  nations  to  sects,  we  shall  find  them  wise  and 
prosperous  in  proportion  as  they  become  early  acquainted  with 
the  scriptures.  The  bible  is  still  used  as  a  school  book  among  the 


122       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

Quakers.  The  morality  of  this  sect  of  Christians  is  universally 
acknowledged.  Nor  is  this  all, — their  prudence  in  the  manage- 
ment of  their  private  affairs,  is  as  much  a  mark  of  their  society, 
as  their  sober  manners. 

I  wish  to  be  excused  for  repeating  here,  that  if  the  Bible  did 
not  convey  a  single  direction  for  the  attainment  of  future  happi- 
ness, it  should  be  read  in  our  schools  in  preference  to  all  other 
books,  from,  its  containing  the  greatest  portion  of  that  kind  of 
knowledge  which  is  calculated  to  produce  private  and  public 
temporal  happiness. 

We  err  not  only  in  human  affairs,  but  in  religion  likewise, 
only  because  "we  do  not  know  the  scriptures."  The  opposite 
systems  of  the  numerous  sects  of  Christians  arise  chiefly  from 
their  being  more  instructed  in  catechism,  creeds,, and  confessions 
of  faith,  than  in  the  scriptures.  Immense  truths,  I  believe,  are 
concealed  in  them.  The  time,  I  have  no  doubt,  will  come,  when 
posterity  will  view  and  pity  our  ignorance  of  these  truths, 
as  much  as  we  do  the  ignorance  of  the  disciples  of  our  Saviour, 
who  knew  nothing  of  the  meaning  of  those  plain  passages  in 
the  Old  Testament  which  were  daily  fulfilling  before  their 
eyes.  Whenever  that  time  shall  arrive,  those  truths  which  have 
escaped  our  notice,  or,  if  discovered,  have  been  thought  to 
be  opposed  to  each  other,  or  to  be  inconsistent  with  them- 
selves, will  then  like  the  stones  of  Solomon's  temple,  be  found 
so  exactly  to  accord  with  each  other,  that  they  shall  be  cemented 
without  noise  or  force,  into  one  simple  and  sublime  system  of 
religion. 

But  further,  we  err,  not  only  in  religion  but  in  philosophy 
likewise,  because  we  "do  not  know  or  believe  the  scriptures." 
The  sciences  have  been  compared  to  a  circle  of  which  religion 
composes  a  part.  To  understand  any  one  of  them  perfectly  it  is 
necessary  to  have  some  knowledge  of  them  all.  Bacon,  Boyle,  and 
Newton  included  the  scriptures  in  the  inquiries  to  which  their 
universal  geniuses  disposed  them,  and  their  philosophy  was  aided 
by  their  knowledge  in  them.  A  striking  agreement  has  been 
lately  discovered  between  the  history  of  certain  events  recorded 


ON  EDUCATION  123 

in  the  Bible  and  some  of  the  operations  and  productions  of 
nature,  particularly  those  which  are  related  in  Whitehurst's  ob- 
servations on  the  deluge — in  Smith's  account  of  the  origin  of  the 
variety  of  color  in  the  human  species,  and  in  Bruce's  travels. 
It  remains  yet  to  be  shown  how  many  other  events,  related  in 
the  Bible,  accord  with  some  late  important  discoveries  in  the 
principles  of  medicine.  The  events,  and  the  principles  alluded 
to,  mutually  establish  the  truth  of  each  other.  From  the  dis- 
coveries of  the  Christian  philosophers,  whose  names  have  been 
last  mentioned,  I  have  been  led  to  question  whether  most  harm 
has  been  done  to  revelation,  by  those  divines  who  have  unduly 
multiplied  the  objects  of  faith,  or  by  those  deists  who  have  unduly 
multiplied  the  objects  of  reason,  in  explaining  the  scriptures. 

I  shall  now  proceed  to  answer  some  of  the  objections  which 
have  been  made  to  the  use  of  the  Bible  as  a  school  book. 

I.  We  are  told,  that  the  familiar  use  of  the  Bible  in  our 
schools,  has  a  tendency  to  lessen  a  due  reverence  for  it.  This 
objection,  by  proving  too  much,  proves  nothing  at  all.  If  famili- 
arity lessens  respect  for  divine  things,  then  all  those  precepts  of 
our  religion,  which  enjoin  the  daily  or  weekly  worship  of  the 
Deity,  are  improper.  The  bible  was  not  intended  to  represent 
a  Jewish  ark;  and  it  is  an  antichristian  idea,  to  suppose  that  it 
can  be  profaned,  by  being  carried  into  a  school  house,  or  by 
being  handled  by  children.  But  where  will  the  Bible  be  read  by 
young. people  with  more  reverence  than  in  a  school?  Not  in  most 
private  families;  for  I  believe  there  are  few  parents,  who  pro- 
serve  so  much  order  in  their  houses,  as  is  kept  up  in  our  common 
English  schools. 

II.  We  are  told,  that  there  are  many  passages  in  the  Old 
Testament,  that  are  improper  to  be  read  by  children,  and  that 
the  greatest  part  of  it  is  no  way  interesting  to  mankind  under 
the  present  dispensation  of  the  gospel.  There  are  I  grant,  several 
chapters,  and  many  verses  in  the  Old  Testament,  which  in  their 
present  unfortunate  translation,  should  be  passed  over  by  chil- 
dren. But  I  deny  that  any  of  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament 
are  not  interesting  to  mankind,  under  the  gospel  dispensation. 


i24       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

Most  of  the  characters,  events,  and  ceremonies,  mentioned  in 
them,  are  personal,  providential,  or  instituted  types  of  the  Mes- 
siah: All  of  which  have  been,  or  remain  yet  to  be,  fulfilled  by 
him.  It  is  from  an  ignorance  or  neglect  of  these  types,  that  we 
have  so  many  deists  in  Christendom;  for  so  irrefragably  do  they 
prove  the  truth  of  Christianity,  that  I  am  sure  a  young  man  who 
had  been  regularly  instructed  in  their  meaning,  could  never 
doubt  afterwards  of  the  truth  of  any  of  its  principles.  If  any 
obscurity  appears  in  these  principles,  it  is  only  (to  use  the  words 
of  the  poet)  because  they  are  dark,  with  excessive  bright. 

I  know  there  is  an  objection  among  many  people  to  teach 
children  doctrines  of  any  kind,  because  they  are  liable  to  be 
controverted.  But  where  will  this  objection  lead  us? — The  being 
of  a  God,  and  the  obligations  of  morality,  havq  both  been  con- 
troverted; and  yet  who  has  objected  to  our  teaching  these  doc- 
trines to  our  children? 

The  curiosity  and  capacities  of  young  people  for  the  mys- 
teries of  religion,  awaken  much  sooner  than  is  generally  sup- 
posed. Of  this  we  have  two  remarkable  proofs  in  the  Old  Tes- 
tament. The  first  is  mentioned  in  the  twelfth  chapter  of  Exodus. 
uAnd  it  shall  come  when  your  children  shall  say  unto  you, 
"Wtytt  mean  you  by  this  service?"  that  ye  shall  say,  "It  is  the 
sacrifice  of  the  Lord's  passover,  who  passed  over  the  houses  of 
the  children  of  Israel  in  Egypt,  when  he  smote  the  Egyptians, 
and  delivered  our  houses.  And  the  children  of  Israel  went  away, 
and  did  as  the  Lord  had  commanded  Moses  and  Aaron."  A  sec- 
ond proof  of  the  desire  of  children  to  be  instructed  in  the  mys- 
teries of  religion,  is  to  be  found  in  the  sixth  chapter  of  Deuteron- 
omy. "And  when  thy  son  asketh  thee  in  the  time  to  come  saying, 
"What  mean  the  testimonies — and  the  statutes — and  the  judg- 
ments which  the  Lord  our  God  hath  commanded  you?"  Then 
thou  shalt  say  unto  thy  son,  "We  were  Pharaoh's  bondmen  in 
Egypt,  and  the  Lord  our  God  brought  us  out  of  Egypt  with  a 
mighty  hand."  These  enquiries  from  the  mouths  of  children  are 
perfectly  natural;  for  where  is  the  parent  who  has  not  had  similar 
questions  proposed  to  him  by  his  children  upon  their  being  first 


ON  EDUCATION  125 

conducted  to  a  place  of  worship,  or  upon  their  beholding,  for  the 
first  time,  either  of  the  sacraments  of  our  religion? 

Let  us  not  be  wiser  than  our  Maker.  If  moral  precepts  alone 
could  have  reformed  mankind,  the  mission  of  the  Son  of  God 
into  our  world,  would  have  been  unnecessary.  He  came  to 
promulgate  a  system  of  doctrines,  as  well  as  a  system  of  morals. 
The  perfect  morality  of  the  gospel  rests  upon  a  doctrine,  which 
though  often  controverted,  has  never  been  refuted,  I  mean  the 
vicarious  life  and  death  of  the  Son  of  God.  This  sublime  and 
ineffable  doctrine  delivers  us  from  the  absurd  hypotheses  of 
modern  philosophers,  concerning  the  foundation  of  moral  obli- 
gation, and  fixes  it  upon  the  eternal  and  self  moving  principle  of 
LOVE.  It  concentrates  a  whole  system  of  ethics  in  a  single  text 
of  scripture.  "A  new  coiwnandment  I  give  unto  you,  that  ye  love 
one  another,  even  as  I  have  loved  you"  By  withholding  the 
knowledge  of  this  doctrine  from  children,  we  deprive  ourselves 
of  the  best  means  of  awakening  moral  sensibility  in  their  minds. 
We  do  more,  we  furnish  an  argument,  for  withholding  from 
them  a  knowledge  of  the  morality  of  the  gospel  likewise;  for  this, 
in  many  instances,  is  as  supernatural,  and  therefore  as  liable  to  be 
controverted,  as  any  of  the  doctrines  or  miracles  which  are  men- 
tioned in  the  New  Testament.  The  miraculous  conception  of  the 
saviour  of  the  world  by  a  virgin,  is  not  more  opposed  to  the 
ordinary  course  of  natural  events,  nor  is  the  doctrine  of  the 
atonement  more  above  human  reason,  than  those  moral  precepts, 
which  command  us  to  love  our  enemies,  or  to  die  for  our  friends. 

III.  It  has  been  said,  that  the  division  of  the  Bible  into  chap- 
ters and  verses,  renders  it  more  difficult  to  be  read,  by  children 
than  many  other  books. 

By  a  little  care  in  a  master,  this  difficulty  may  be  obviated, 
and  even  an  advantage  derived  from  it.  It  may  serve  to  transfer 
the  attention  of  the  scholar  to  the  sense  of  a  subject;  and  no 
person  will  ever  read  well,  who  is  guided  by  any  thing  else,  in 
his  stops,  emphasis,  or  accents.  The  division  of  the  Bible  into 
chapters  and  verses,  is  not  a  greater  obstacle  to  its  being  read 
with  ease,  than  the  bad  punctuation  of  most  other  books.  I 


126       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

deliver  this  stricture  upon  other  books,  from  the  authority  of 
Mr.  Rice,  the  celebrated  author  of  the  art  of  speaking,  whom  I 
heard  declare  in  a  large  company  in  London,  that  he  had  never 
seen  a  book  properly  pointed  in  the  English  Language.  He  ex- 
emplified, notwithstanding,  by  reading  to  the  same  company  a 
passage  from  Milton,  his  perfect  knowledge  of  the  art  of  reading. 

Some  people,  I  know,  have  proposed  to  introduce  extracts 
from  the  Bible,  into  our  schools,  instead  of  the  Bible  itself.  Many 
excellent  works  of  this  kind,  are  in  print,  but  if  we  admit  any 
one  of  them,  we  shall  have  the  same  inundation  of  them  that  we 
have  had  of  grammars,  spelling  books,  and  lessons  for  children, 
many  of  which  are  published  for  the  benefit  of  the  authors  only, 
and  all  of  them  have  tended  greatly  to  increase  the  expence  of 
education.  Besides,  these  extracts  or  abridgements  of  the  Bible, 
often  contain  the  tenets  of  particular  sects  or  persons,  and  there- 
fore, may  be  improper  for  schools  composed  of  the  children 
of  different  sects  of  Christians.  The  Bible  is  a  cheap  book,  and 
is  to  be  had  in  every  bookstore.  It  is,  moreover,  esteemed  and 
preferred  by  all  sects;  because  each  finds  its  peculiar  doctrines 
in  it.  It  should  therefore  be  used  in  preference  to  any  abridge- 
ments of  it,  or  histories  extracted  from  it. 

I  have  heard  it  proposed  that  a  portion  of  the  Bible  should 
be  read  every  day  by  the  master,  as  a  means  of  instructing  chil- 
dren in  it:  But  this  is  a  poor  substitute  for  obliging  children  to 
read  it  as  a  school  book;  for  by  this  means  we  insensibly  engrave, 
as  it  were,  its  contents  upon  their  minds:  and  it  has  been  remarked 
that  children,  instructed  in  this  way  in  the  scriptures,  seldom 
forget  any  part  of  them.  They  have  the  same  advantage  over 
those  persons,  who  have  only  heard  the  scriptures  read  by  a 
master,  that  a  man  who  has  worked  with  the  tools  of  a  mechani- 
cal employment  for  several  years,  has  over  the  man  who  has  only 
stood  a  few  hours  in  a  work  shop  and  seen  the  same  business 
carried  on  by  other  people. 

In  this  defence  of  the  use  of  the  Bible  as  a  school  book,  I 
beg  you  would  not  think  that  I  suppose  the  Bible  to  contain  the 
only  revelation  which  God  has  made  to  man.  I  believe  in  an 


ON  EDUCATION  127 

internal  revelation,  or  a  moral  principle,  which  God  has  im- 
planted in  the  heart  of  every  man,  as  the  precursor  of  his  final 
dominion  over  the  whole  human  race.  How  much  this  internal 
revelation  accords  with  the  external,  remains  yet  to  be  explored 
by  philosophers.  I  am  disposed  to  believe,  that  most  of  the  doc- 
trines of  Christianity  revealed  in  the  Bible  might  be  discovered 
by  a  close  examination  of  all  the  principles  of  action  in  man:  But 
who  is  equal  to  such  an  enquiry?  It  certainly  does  not  suit  the 
natural  indolence,  or  laborious  employments  of  a  great  majority 
of  mankind.  The  internal  revelation  of  the  gospel  may  be  com- 
pared to  the  straight  line  which  is  made  through  a  wilderness 
by  the  assistance  of  a  compass,  to  a  distant  country,  which  few 
are  able  to  discover,  while  the  Bible  resembles  a  public  road 
to  the  same  country,  which  is  wide,  plain,  and  easily  found. 
"And  a  highway  shall  be  there,  and  it  shall  be  called  the  way 
of  holiness.  The  way  faring  men,  though  fools,  shall  not  err 
therein." 

Neither  let  me  in  this  place  exclude  the  Revelation  which  God 
has  made  of  himself  to  man  in  the  works  of  creation.  I  am  far 
from  wishing  to  lessen  the  influence  of  this  species  of  Revelation 
upon  mankind.  But  the  knowledge  of  God  obtained  from  this 
source,  is  obscure  and  feeble  in  its  operation,  compared  with  that 
which  is  derived  from  the  Bible.  The  visible  creation  speaks  of 
the  Deity  in  hieroglyphics,  while  the  Bible  describes  all  his 
attributes  and  perfections  in  such  plain,  and  familiar  language 
that  "he  who  runs  may  read." 

How  kindly  has  our  maker  dealt  with  his  creatures,  in  pro- 
viding three  different  cords  to  draw  them  to  himself!  But  how 
weakly  do  some  men  act,  who  suspend  their  faith,  and  hopes 
upon  only  one  of  them!  By  laying  hold  of  them  all,  they  would 
approach  more  speedily  and  certainly  to  the  centre  of  all  hap- 
piness. 

To  the  arguments  I  have  mentioned  in  favour  of  the  use 
of  the  Bible  as  a  school  book,  I  shall  add  a  few  reflections. 

The  present  fashionable  practice  of  rejecting  the  Bible  from 
our  schools,  I  suspect  has  originated  with  the  deists.  They  dis- 


128       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

cover  great  ingenuity  in  this  new  mode  of  attacking  Christianity. 
If  they  proceed  in  it,  they  will  do  more  in  half  a  century,  in 
extirpating  our  religion,  than  Bolingbroke  or  Voltaire  could 
have  effected  in  a  thousand  years.  I  am  not  writing  to  this  class 
of  people.  I  despair  of  changing  the  opinions  of  any  of  them. 
I  wish  only  to  alter  the  opinions  and  conduct  of  those  lukewarm, 
or  superstitious  Christians,  who  have  been  misled  by  the  deists 
upon  this  subject.  On  the  ground  of  the  good  old  custom,  of 
using  the  Bible  as  a  school  book,  it  becomes  us  to  entrench  our 
religion.  It  is  the  last  bulwark  the  deists  have  left  it;  for  they  have 
rendered  instruction  in  the  principles  of  Christianity  by  the  pul- 
pit and  the  press,  so  unfashionable,  that  little  good  for  many  years 
seems  to  have  been  done  by  either  of  them. 

The  effects  of  the  disuse  of  the  Bible,  as  a  school  book  have 
appeared  of  late  in  the  neglect  and  even  contempt  with  which 
scripture  names  are  treated  by  many  people.  It  is  because  par- 
ents have  not  been  early  taught  to  know  or  respect  the  characters 
and  exploits  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament  worthies,  that  their 
names  are  exchanged  for  those  of  the  modern  kings  of  Europe, 
or  of  the  principal  characters  in  novels  and  romances.  I  conceive 
there  may  be  some  advantage  in  bearing  scripture  names.  It  may 
lead  the  persons  who  bear  them,  to  study  that  part  of  the  scrip- 
tures, in  which  their  names  are  mentioned,  with  uncommon  atten- 
tion, and  perhaps  it  may  excite  a  desire  in  them  to  possess  the 
talents  of  virtues  of  their  ancient  namesakes.  This  remark  first 
occurred  to  me,  upon  hearing  a  pious  woman  whose  name  was 
Mary,  say,  that  the  first  passages  of  the  Bible,  which  made  a 
serious  impression  on  her  mind,  were  those  interesting  chapters 
and  verses  in  which  the  name  of  Mary  is  mentioned  in  the  New 
Testament. 

It  is  a  singular  fact,  that  while  the  names  of  the  kings  and 
emperors  of  Rome,  are  now  given  chiefly  to  horses  and  dogs, 
scripture  names  have  hitherto  been  confined  only  to  the  human 
species.  Let  the  enemies  and  contemners  of  those  names  take 
care,  lest  the  names  of  more  modern  kings  be  given  hereafter 
only  to  the  same  animals,  and  lest  the  names  of  the  modern 


ON  EDUCATION  129 

heroines  of  romances  be  given  to  animals  of  an  inferior 
species. 

It  is  with  great  pleasure,  that  I  have  observed  the  Bible  to 
be  the  only  book  read  in  the  Sunday  schools  in  England.  We 
have  adopted  the  same  practice  in  the  Sunday  schools,  lately 
established  in  this  city.  This  will  give  our  religion  (humanly 
speaking)  the  chance  of  a  longer  life  in  our  country.  We  hear 
much  of  the  persons  educated  in  free  schools  in  England,  turn- 
ing out  well  in  the  various  walks  of  life.  I  have  enquired  into 
the  cause  of  it,  and  have  satisfied  myself,  that  it  is  wholly  to  be 
ascribed  to  the  general  use  of  the  Bible  in  those  schools,  for  it 
seems  the  children  of  poor  people  are  of  too  little  consequence 
to  be  guarded  from  the  supposed  evils  of  reading  the  scriptures 
in  early  life,  or  in  an  unconsecrated  school  house. 

However  great  the  benefits  of  reading  the  scriptures  in 
schools  have  been,  I  cannot  help  remarking,  that  these  benefits 
might  be  much  greater,  did  schoolmasters  take  more  pains  to 
explain  them  to  their  scholars.  Did  they  demonstrate  the  divine 
original  of  the  Bible  from  the  purity,  consistency,  and  benevo- 
lence of  its  doctrines  and  precepts — did  they  explain  the  mean- 
ing of  the  levitical  institutions,  and  show  their  application  to  the 
numerous  and  successive  gospel  dispensations — did  they  inform 
their  pupils  that  the  gross  and  abominable  vices  of  the  Jews  were 
recorded  only  as  proofs  of  the  depravity  of  human  nature,  and 
of  the  insufficiency  of  the  law,  to  produce  moral  virtue  and 
thereby  to  establish  the  necessity  and  perfection  of  the  gospel 
system — and  above  all,  did  they  often  enforce  the  discourses 
of  our  Saviour,  as  the  best  rule  of  life,  and  the  surest  guide  to 
happiness,  how  great  would  be  the  influence  of  our  schools  upon 
the  order  and  prosperity  of  our  country!  Such  a  mode  of  in- 
structing children  in  the  Christian  religion,  would  convey  knowl- 
edge into  their  understandings,  and  would  therefore  be  prefer- 
able to  teaching  them  creeds,  and  catechisms,  which  too  often 
convey,  not  knowledge,  but  words  only,  into  their  memories. 
1  think  I  am  not  too  sanguine  in  believing,  that  education,  con- 
ducted in  this  manner,  would,  in  the  course  of  two  generations, 


1 3o       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

eradicate  infidelity  from  among  us,  and  render  civil  govern- 
ment scarcely  necessary  in  our  country. 

In  contemplating  the  political  institutions  of  the  United 
States,  I  lament,  that  we  waste  so  much  time  and  money  in 
punishing  crimes,  and  take  so  little  pains  to  prevent  them.  We 
profess  to  be  republicans,  and  yet  we  neglect  the  only  means 
of  establishing  and  perpetuating  our  republican  forms  of  gov- 
erment,  that  is,  the  universal  education  of  our  youth  in  the  prin- 
ciples of  Christianity,  by  means  of  the  Bible;  for  this  divine 
book,  above  all  others,  favours  that  equality  among  mankind, 
that  respect  for  just  laws,  and  all  those  sober  and  frugal  virtues, 
which  constitute  the  soul  of  republicanism. 

I  have  now  only  to  apologize  for  having  addressed  this  letter 
to  you,  after  having  been  assured  by  you,  that  your  opinion, 
respecting  the  use  of  the  Bible  as  a  school  book,  coincided  with 
mine.  My  excuse  for  what  I  have  done  is,  that  I  knew  you  were 
qualified  by  your  knowledge,  and  disposed  by  your  zeal  in  the 
cause  of  truth,  to  correct  all  the  errors  you  would  discover  in 
my  letter.  Perhaps  a  further  apology  may  be  necessary  for  my 
having  presumed  to  write  upon  a  subject  so  much  above  my 
ordinary  studies.  My  excuse  for  it  is,  that  I  thought  a  single  mite 
from  a  member  of  a  profession,  which  has  been  frequently 
charged  with  scepticism  in  religion,  might  attract  the  notice  of 
persons  who  had  often  overlooked  the  more  ample  contributions 
upon  this  subject,  of  gentlemen  of  other  professions. 


ON  NATURAL   AND   MEDICAL 
SCIENCES 


LECTURES     ON     ANIMAL     LIFE 


LECTURE  I 

GENTLEMEN, 

My  business  in  this  chair  is  to  teach  the  institutes  of  medicine. 
They  have  been  divided  into  Physiology,  Pathology,  and  Thera- 
peutics. The  objects  of  the  first  are,  the  laws  of  the  human  body 
in  its  healthy  state.  The  second  includes  the  history  of  the  causes, 
and  seats  of  diseases.  The  subjects  of  the  third,  are  the  remedies 
for  those  diseases.  In  entering  upon  the  first  part  of  our  course, 
I  am  met  by  a  remark  delivered  by  Dr.  Hunter  in  his  introduc- 
tory lectures  to  his  course  of  anatomy.  "In  our  branch  (says  the 
Doctor)  those  teachers  who  study  to  captivate  young  minds 
with  ingenious  speculations,  will  not  leave  a  reputation  behind 
them  that  will  outlive  them,  half  a  century.  When  they  cease 
from  their  labours,  their  labours  will  be  buried  along  with  them. 
There  never  was  a  man  more  followed,  and  admired  in  physiol- 
ogy, than  Dr.  Boerhaave.  I  remember  the  veneration  in  which 

he  was  held.  And  now,  in  the  space  of  forty  years, his 

physiology  is it  shocks  me  to  think,  in 

what  a  light  it  appears."  *  Painful  as  this  premonition  may  be  to 
the  teachers  of  physiology,  it  should  not  deter  them  from  specu- 
lating upon  physiological  subjects.  Simple  anatomy  is  a  mass  of 
dead  matter.  It  is  physiology  which  infuses  life  into  it.  A  knowl- 
edge of  the  structure  of  the  human  body,  occupies  only  the 
memory.  Physiology  introduces  it  to  the  higher,  and  more  noble 
faculties  of  the  mind.  The  component  parts  of  the  body,  may  be 

*  Lect.  xi.  p.  98. 

133 


i34      SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

compared  to  the  materials  of  a  house,  lying  without  order  in  a 
yard.  It  is  physiology,  like  a  skilful  architect,  which  connects 
them  together,  so  as  to  form  from  them  an  elegant,  and  useful 
building.  The  writers  against  physiology,  resemble  in  one  par- 
ticular, the  writers  against  luxury.  They  forget  that  the  functions 
they  know,  and  describe,  belong  to  the  science  of  physiology; 
just  as  the  declaimers  against  luxury,  forget  that  all  the  con- 
veniences which  they  enjoy  beyond  what  are  possessed  in  the 
most  simple  stage  of  society,  belong  to  the  luxuries  of  life.  The 
anatomist  who  describes  the  circulation  of  the  blood,  acts  the 
part  of  a  physiologist,  as  much  as  he  does,  who  attempts  to  ex- 
plain the  functions  of  the  brain.  In  this  respect  Dr.  Hunter  did 
honor  to  our  science;  for  few  men  ever  explained  that  subject, 
and  many  others  equally  physiological,  with  more  perspicuity 
and  eloquence,  than  that  illustrious  anatomist.  Upon  all  new  and 
difficult  subjects,  there  must  be  pioneers.  It  has  been  my  lot  to 
be  called  to  this%  office  of  hazard,  and  drudgery;  and  if  in  dis- 
charging its  duties,  I  should  meet  the  fate  of  my  predecessors, 
in  this  branch  of  medicine,  I  shall  not  perish  in  vain.  My  errors, 
like  the  bodies  of  those  who  fall  in  forcing  a  breach,  will  serve 
to  compose  a  bridge  for  those  who  shall  come  after  me,  in  our 
present  difficult  enterprise.  This  consideration,  aided  by  just 
views  of  the  nature,  and  extent  of  moral  obligation,  will  over- 
balance the  evils  anticipated  by  Dr.  Hunter,  from  the  loss  of 
posthumous  fame.  Had  a  prophetic  voice  whispered  in  the  ear 
of  Dr.  Boerhaave  in  the  evening  of  his  life,  that  in  the  short 
period  of  forty  years,  the  memory  of  his  physiological  works 
would  perish  from  the  earth;  I  am  satisfied,  from  the  knowledge 
we  have  of  his  elevated  genius  and  piety,  he  would  have  treated 
the  prediction  with  the  same  indifference,  that  he  would  have 
done,  had  he  been  told,  that  in  the  same  rime,  his  name  should 
be  erased  from  a  pane  of  glass,  in  a  noisy  and  vulgar  country 
tavern. 

The  subjects  of  the  lectures  I  am  about  to  deliver,  you  will 
find  in  a  syllabus  which  I  have  prepared,  and  published,  for  the 
purpose  of  giving  you  a  succinct  view  of  the  extent,  and  con- 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES  135 

nection  of  our  course.  Some  of  these  subjects  will  be  new  in 
lectures  upon  the  institutes  of  medicine,  particularly  those  which 
relate  to  morals,  metaphysicks,  and  theology.  However  thorny 
these  questions  may  appear,  we  must  approach  and  handle  them; 
for  they  are  intimately  connected  with  the  history  of  the  facul- 
ties, and  operations  of  the  human  mind;  and  these  form  an 
essential  part  of  the  animal  economy.  Perhaps  it  is  because  physi- 
cians have  hitherto  been  restrained  from  investigating,  and  de- 
ciding upon  these  subjects,  by  an  erroneous  belief  that  they  be- 
long exclusively  to  another  profession;  that  physiology  has  so 
long  been  an  obscure,  and  conjectural  science. 

In  beholding  the  human  body,  the  first  thing  that  strikes  us, 
is  its  LIFE.  This,  of  course  should  be  the  first  object  of  our  in- 
quiries. It  is  a  most  important  subject;  for  the  end  of  all  the 
studies  of  a  physician  is  to  preserve  life;  and  this  cannot  be  per- 
fectly done,  until  we  know  in  what  it  consists. 

I  include  in  animal  life  as  applied  to  the  human  body,  motion 
— sensation — and  thought.  These  three,  when  united,  compose 
perfect  life.  It  may  exist  without  thought,  or  sensation;  but 
neither  sensation,  nor  thought,  can  exist  without  motion.  The 
lowest  grade  of  life,  probably  exists  in  the  absence  of  even 
motion,  as  I  shall  mention  hereafter.  I  have  preferred  the  term 
motion  to  those  of  oscillation,  or  vibration  which  have  been  em- 
ployed by  Dr.  Hartley  in  explaining  the  laws  of  animal  matter; 
because  I  conceived  it  to  be  more  simple,  and  better  adapted  to 
common  apprehension. 

In  treating  upon  this  subject,  I  shall  first  consider  animal  life 
as  it  appears  in  the  waking,  and  sleeping  states  in  a  healthy  adult, 
and  shall  afteiwards  inquire  into  the  modification  of  its  causes, 
in  the  foetal,  infant,  youthful,  and  middle  states  of  life,  in  certain 
diseases,  in  different  states  of  society,  in  different  climates,  and 
in  different  animals. 

I  shall  begin,  by  delivering  three  general  propositions. 

I.  Every  part  of  the  human  body  (the  nails  and  hair  ex- 
cepted)  is  endowed  with  sensibility,  or  excitability,  or  with  both 
of  them.  By  sensibility  is  meant  the  power  of  having  sensation 


i36       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

excited  by  the  action  of  impressions.  Excitability  denotes  that 
property  in  the  human  body,  by  which  motion  is  excited  by 
means  of  impressions.  This  property  has  been  called  by  several 
other  names,  such  as,  irritability,  contractility,  mobility,  and  stim- 
ulability.  I  shall  make  use  of  the  term  excitability,  for  the  most 
part,  in  preference  to  either  of  them.  I  mean  by  it,  a  capacity  ot 
imperceptible,  as  well  as  obvious  motion. — It  is  of  no  consequence 
to  our  present  inquiries,  whether,  this  excitability  be  a  quality 
of  animal  matter,  or  a  substance.  The  latter  opinion  has  been 
maintained  by  Dr.  Girtanner,  and  has  some  probability  in  its 
favor. 

II.  The  whole  human  body  is  so  formed,  and  connected, 
that  impressions  made  in  the  healthy  state  upon  one  part,  excite 
motion,  or  sensation,  or  both,  in  every  other  pftrt  of  tlie  body. 
From  this  view,  it  appears  to  be  an  unit,  or  a  simple  and  indivisible 
quality,  or  substance.  Its  capacity  for  receiving  motion,  and 
sensation,  is  variously  modified  by  means  of  what  are  called,  the 
senses.  It  is  external,  and  internal.  The  impressions  which  act 
upon  it,  shall  be  enumerated  in  order. 

III.  Life  is  the  EFFECT  of  certain  stimuli  acting  upon  the 
sensibility,  and  excitability  which  are  extended  in  different  de- 
grees, over  every  external,  and  internal  part  of  the  body.  These 
stimuli  are  as  necessary  to  its  existence,  as  air  is  to  flame.  Animal 
life  is  truly  (to  use  the  words  of  Dr.  Brown)  "a  forced  state." 
I  have  said,  the  words  of  Dr.  Brown;  for  the  opinion  was  deliv- 
ered by  Dr.  Cullen  in  the  University  of  Edinburgh  in  the  year 
1766,  and  was  detailed  by  me  in  this  school,  many  years  before 
the  name  of  Dr.  Brown  was  known  as  a  teacher  of  medicine. 
It  is  true,  Dr.  Cullen  afterwards  deserted  it;  but  it  is  equally  true, 
I  never  did;  and  the  belief  of  it,  has  been  the  foundation  of  many 
of  the  principles,  and  modes  of  practice  in  medicine  which  I  have 
since  adopted.  In  a  lecture  which  I  delivered  in  the  year  1771, 
I  find  the  following  words,  which  are  taken  from  a  manuscript 
copy  of  lectures  given  by  Dr.  Cullen  upon  the  institutes  of 
medicine.  "The  human  body  is  not  an  automaton,  or  self-moving 
machine;  but  is  kept  alive,  and  in  motion  by  the  constant  action 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          137 

of  stimuli  upon  it."  In  thus  ascribing  the  discovery  of  the  cause 
of  life  which  I  shall  endeavour  to  establish,  to  Dr.  Cullen;  let  it 
not  be  supposed,  I  mean  to  detract  from  the  genius,  and  merit 
of  Dr.  Brown.  To  his  intrepidity  in  reviving,  and  propagating  it, 
as  well  as  for  the  many  other  truths  contained  in  his  system 
of  medicine  posterity,  I  have  no  doubt,  will  do  him  ample  justice, 
after  the  errors  that  are  blended  with  them,  have  been  corrected, 
by  their  unsuccessful  application  to  the  cure  of  diseases. 

Agreeably  to  our  last  proposition,  I  proceed  to  remark,  that 
the  action  of  the  brain,  the  diastole,  and  systole  of  the  heart,  the 
pulsation  of  the  arteries,  the  contraction  of  the  muscles,  the 
peristaltic  motion  of  the  bowels,  the  absorbing  power  of  the 
lymphatics,  secretion,  excretion,  hearing,  seeing,  smelling,  taste, 
and  the  sense  of  touch,  nay  more,  thought  itself,  are  all  the 
effects  of  stimuli  acting  upon  the  organs  of  sense  and  motion. 
These  stimuli  have  been  divided  into  external,  and  internal.  The 
external  are  light,  sound,  odors,  air,  heat,  exercise,  and  the  pleas- 
ures of  the  senses.  The  internal  stimuli  are  food,  drinks,  chyle, 
the  blood,  a  certain  tension  of  the  glands,  which  contain  secreted 
liquors,  and  the  exercises  of  the  faculties  of  the  mind;  each  of 
which  I  shall  treat  in  the  order,  in  which  they  have  been  men- 
tioned. 

Of  external  stimuli.  The  first  of  these  is  light.  It  is  remark- 
able that  the  progenitor  of  the  human  race  was  not  brought  into 
existence  until  all  the  luminaries  of  heaven  were  created.  The 
first  impulse  of  life,  was  probably  imparted  to  his  body, by  means 
of  light.  It  acts  chiefly  through  the  medium  of  the  organs  of 
vision.  Its  influence  upon  animal  life  is  feeble,  compared  with 
some  other  stimuli  to  be  mentioned  hereafter;  but  it  has  its  pro- 
portion of  force. — Sleep  has  been  said  to  be  a  tendency  to  death; 
now  the  absence  of  light  we  know  invites  to  sleep,  and  the 
return  of  it  excites  the  waking  state.  The  late  Mr.  Rittenhouse 
informed  me,  that  for  many  years  he  had  constantly  awoke 
with  the  first  dawn  of  the  morning  light,  both  in  summer  and 
winter.  Its  influence  upon  the  animal  spirits  strongly  demon- 
strates its  connection  with  animal  life,  and  hence  we  find  a 


138       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

cheerful  and  a  depressed  state  of  mind  in  many  people,  and  more 
especially  in  invalids,  to  be  intimately  connected  with  the  pres- 
ence or  absence  of  the  rays  of  the  sun.  The  well  known  pedes- 
trian traveller  Mr.  Stewart  in  one  of  his  visits  to  this  city  in- 
formed me,  that  he  had  spent  a  summer  in  Lapland  in  the  latitude 
of  69°  during  the  greatest  part  of  which  time  the  sun  was 
seldom  out  of  sight.  He  enjoyed  he  said  during  this  period, 
uncommon  health  and  spirits,  both  of  which  he  ascribed  to  the 
long  duration,  and  invigorating  influence  of  light.  These  facts 
will  surprise  us  less  when  we  attend  to  the  effects  of  light  upon 
vegetables.  Some  of  them  lose  their  colour  by  being  deprived  of 
it;  many  of  them  discover  a  partiality  to  it  in  the  direction  of 
their  flowers;  and  all  of  them  discharge  their  pure  air  only  while 
they  are  exposed  to  it.* 

Sound  has  an  extensive  influence  upon  human  life.  Its 
numerous  artificial  and  natural  sources  need  not  be  mentioned. 
I  shall  only  take  notice,  that  the  currents  of  winds,  the  passage 
of  insects  through  the  air,  and  even  the  growth  of  vegetables,  are 
all  attended  with  an  emission  of  sound;  and  although  they  be- 
come imperceptible  from  habit;  yet  there  is  reason  to  believe 
they  all  act  upon  the  body,  through  the  mediums  of  the  ears.  The 
existence  of  these  sounds,  is  established  by  the  reports  of  persons 
who  have  ascended  two  or  three  miles  from  earth  in  a  Balloon. 
They  tell  us  that  the  silence  which  prevails  in  those  regions  of 
the  air  is  so  new  and  complete,  as  to  produce  an  awful  solemnity 
in  their  mjnds.  It  is  not  necessary  that  these  sounds  should  excite 
sensation,  or  perception  in  order  to  their  exerting  a  degree  of 
stimulus  upon  the  body.  There  are  a  hundred  impressions  daily 
made  upon  it,  which  from  habit,  are  not  followed  by  sensation. 
The  stimulus  of  aliment  upon  the  stomach,  and  of  blood  upon 

*  "Organization,  sensation,  spontaneous  motion  and  life,  exist  only 
at  the  surface  of  the  earth,  and  in  places  exposed  to  light.  We  might 
affirm  the  flame  of  Prometheus's  torch  was  the  expression  of  a  philosophi- 
cal truth  that  did  not  escape  the  ancients.  Without  light,  nature  was  life- 
less, inanimate  and  dead.  A  benevolent  God  by  producing  life  has  spread 
organization,  sensation  and  thought  over  the  surface  of  the  earth." 
Lavoissier. 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          139 

the  heart  and  arteries,  probably  cease  to  be  felt,  only  from  the 
influence  of  habit.  The  exercise  of  walking,  which  was  originally 
^he  result  of  a  deliberate  act  of  the  will,  is  performed  from  habit 
without  the  least  degree  of  consciousness.  It  is  unfortunate  for 
this,  and  many  other  parts  of  physiology,  that  we  forget  what 
passed  in  our  minds  the  first  two  or  three  years  of  our  lives.  Could 
we  recollect  the  manner  in  which  we  acquired  our  first  ideas, 
and  the  progress  of  our  knowledge  with  the  evolution  of  our 
senses,  and  faculties;  it  would  relieve  us  from  many  difficulties, 
and  controversies  upon  this  subject.  Perhaps  this  forgetfulness 
by  children,  of  the  origin  and  progress  of  their  knowledge,  might 
be  remedied  by  our  attending  more  closely  to  the  first  effects  of 
impressions,  sensation,  and  perception  upon  them  as  discovered 
by  their  little  actions;  all  of  which  probably  have  a  meaning,  as 
determined  as  any  of  the  actions  of  men  or  women. 

The  influence  of  sounds  of  a  certain  kind  in  producing  ex- 
citement, and  thereby  increasing  life,  cannot  be  denied.  Fear 
produces  debility  which  is  a  tendency  to  death. — Sound  obviates 
this  debility,  and  thus  restores  the  system  to  the  natural,  and 
healthy  grade  of  life.  The  school  boy  and  the  clown,  invigorate 
their  feeble  and  trembling  limbs,  by  whistling  or  singing  as  they 
pass  by  a  country  church  yard,  and  the  soldier  feels  his  departing 
life  recalled  in  the  onset  of  a  battle  by  the  noise  of  the  fife,  and 
of  the  poet's  "spirit  stirring  drum."  Intoxication  is  frequently 
attended  with  a  higher  degree  of  life  than  is  natural.  Now  sound 
we  know  will  produce  this  with  a  very  moderate  portion  of 
fermented  liquor;  hence  we  find  men  are  more  easily  and  higHy 
excited  by  it  at  public  entertainments  where  there  is  music,  loud 
talking,  and  hallooing,  than  in  private  companies  where  there  is 
no  auxiliary  stimulus  added  to  that  of  the  wine.  I  wish  these 
effects  of  sound  upon  animal  life  to  be  remembered;  for  I  shall 
mention  it  hereafter  as  a  remedy  for  the  weak  state  of  life  in 
many  diseases,  and  shall  relate  an  instance  in  which  a  scream 
suddenly  extorted  by  grief,  proved  the  means  of  resuscitating  a 
person,  who  was  supposed  to  be  dead,  and  who  had  exhibited 
the  usual  recent  marks  of  the  extinction  of  life. 


i4o       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

I  shall  conclude  this  head  by  remarking  that  persons,  who  are 
destitute  of  hearing  and  seeing,  possess  life  in  a  more  languid 
state  than  other  people;  and  hence  arise  the  dulness,  and  want 
of  spirits  which  they  discover  in  their  intercourse  with  the  world. 

3.  Odors  have  a  sensible  effect  in  promoting  animal  life.  The 
greater  healthiness  of  the  country,  than  cities,  is  derived  in  part 
from  the  effluvia  of  odoriferous  plants  which  float  in  the  at- 
mosphere in  the  spring  and  summer  months,  acting  upon  the 
system,  through  the  medium  of  the  sense  of  smelling.  The  effects 
of  odors,  upon  animal  life,  appear  still  more  obvious  in  the  sud- 
den revival  of  it,  which  they  produce  in  cases  of  fainting.  Here 
the  smell  of  a  few  drops  of  hartshorn,  or  even  of  a  burnt  feather, 
has  frequently  in  a  few  minutes  restored  the  system,  from  a  state 
of  weakness  bordering  upon  death,  to  an  equable  and  regular 
degree  of  excitement. 

4.  Air  acts  as  a  powerful  stimulus  upon  the  system  through 
the  medium  of  the  lungs.  The  component  parts  of  this  fluid,  and 
its  decomposition  in  the  lungs,  will  be  considered  in  another  place. 
I  shall  only  remark  here,  that  the  circulation  of  the  blood  has 
been  ascribed  by  Dr.  Goodwin  exclusively  to  the  action  of  air 
upon  the  lungs  and  heart.  Does  the  external  air  act  upon  any 
other  part  of  the  body  besides  those  which  have  been  mentioned? 
It  is  probable  it  does,  and  that  we  lose  our  sensation  and  con- 
sciousness of  it,  by  habit.  It  is  certain  children  cry,  for  the  most 
part,  as  soon  as  they  come  into  the  world.  May  not  this  be  the 
effect  of  the  sudden  impression  of  air  upon  the  tender  surface  of 
their  bodies?  And  may  not  the  red  color  of  their  skins,  be  occa- 
sioned by  an  irritation  excited  on  them  by  the  stimulus  of  the 
air?  It  is  certain  it  acts  powerfully  upon  dinudated  animal  fibres; 
for  who  has  not  observed  a  sore,  and  even  the  skin  when  de- 
prived of  its  cuticle,  to  be  affected,  when  long  exposed  to  the 
air,  with  pain,  and  inflammation? —  The  stimulus  of  air,  in  pro- 
moting the  natural  actions  of  the  alimentary  canal,  cannot  be 
doubted.  A  certain  portion  of  it  seems  to  be  necessarily  present 
in  the  bowels  in  a  healthy  state. 

5.  Heat  is  an  uniform  and  active  stimulus  in  promoting  life. 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          141 

It  is  derived,  in  certain  seasons  and  countries,  in  part  from  the 
sun;  but  its  principal  source  is  from  the  lungs,  in  which  it  appears 
to  be  generated  by  the  decomposition  of  pure  air,  and  from 
whence  it  is  conveyed  by  means  of  the  circulation,  to  every  part 
of  the  body.  The  extensive  influence  of  heat  upon  animal  life, 
is  evident  from  its  decay  and  suspension  during  the  winter  in 
certain  animals,  and  from  its  revival  upon  the  approach  and 
action  of  the  vernal  sun.  It  is  true,  life  is  diminished  much  less  in 
man,  from  the  distance  and  absence  of  the  sun,  than  in  other 
animals;  but  this  must  be  ascribed  to  his  possessing  reason  in  so 
high  a  degree,  as  to  enable  him  to  supply  the  abstraction  of  heat, 
by  the  action  of  other  stimuli  upon  his  system. 

6.  Exercise  acts  as  a  stimulus  upon  the  body  in  various  ways. 
Its  first  impression  is  upon  the  muscles.  These  act  upon  the 
blood  vessels,  and  they  upon  the  nerves  and  brain.  The  necessity 
of  exercise  to  animal  life  is  indicated,  by  its  being  kindly  imposed 
upon  man  in  paradise.  The  change  which  the  human  body  under- 
went by  the  fall,  rendered  the  same  salutary  stimulus  necessary 
to  its  life,  in  the  more  active  form  of  labor.  But  we  are  not  to 
suppose,  that  motion  is  excited  in  the  body  by  exercise  or  labor 
alone.  It  is  constantly  stimulated  by  the  positions  of  standing, 
sitting,  and  lying  upon  the  sides;  all  of  which  act  more  or  less 
upon  muscular  fibres,  and  by  their  means,  upon  every  part  of 
the  system. 

7.  The  pleasures  we  derive  from  our  senses  have  a  powerful 
and  extensive  influence  upon  human  life.  The  number  of  these 
pleasures,  and  their  proximate  cause,  will  form  an  agreeable  sub- 
ject for  two  or  three  future  lectures. 

We  proceed  next  to  consider  the  internal  stimuli  which  pro- 
duce animal  life.  These  are 

I.  FOOD.  This  acts  in  the  following  ways.  i.  Upon  the  tongue. 
Such  are  the  sensibility  and  excitability  of  this  organ,  and  so 
intimate  is  its  connection  with  every  other  part  of  the  body;  that 
the  whole  system  is  invigorated  by  aliment,  as  soon  as  it  comes 
in  contact  with  it.  2.  By  mastication.  This  moves  a  number  of 
muscles  and  blood  vessels  situated  near  the  brain  and  heart,  and 


142       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

of  course  imparts  impressions  to  them.  3.  By  deglutition,  which 
acts  upon  similar  parts,  and  with  the  same  effect.  4.  By  its  pres- 
ence in  the  stomach,  in  which  it  acts  by  its  quantity  and  quality. 
Food,  by  distending  the  stomach,  stimulates  the  contiguous  parts 
of  the  body.  A  moderate  degree  of  distention  of  the  stomach 
and  bowels  is  essential  to  a  healthy  excitement  of  the  system. 
Vegetable  aliment,  and  drinks,  which  contain  less  nourishment 
than  animal  food,  serve  this  purpose  in  the  human  body.  Hay 
acts  in  the  same  manner  in  a  horse.  Sixteen  pounds,  of  this  light 
food,  are  necessary  to  keep  up  such  a  degree  of  distention  in  the 
stomach  and  bowels  of  this  animal,  as  to  impart  to  him  his  natural 
grade  of  strength  and  life.  The  quality  of  food,  when  of  a  stim- 
ulating nature,  supplies  the  place  of  distention  from  its  quantity. 
A  single  onion  will  support  a  lounging  Highlander  on  the  hills 
of  Scotland  for  four  and  twenty  hours.  A  moderate  quantity  of 
salted  meat,  or  a  few  ounces  of  sugar,  have  supplied  the  place 
of  pounds  of  less  stimulating  food.  Even  indigestible  substances, 
which  remain  for  days,  or  perhaps  weeks  in  the  stomach,  exert 
a  stimulus  there,  which  has  an  influence  upon  animal  life.  It  is 
in  this  way  the  tops  of  briars,  and  the  twigs  of  trees,  devoid  not 
only  of  nourishing  matter,  but  of  juices,  support  the  camel  in  his 
journeys  through  the  deserts  of  the  Eastern  countries.  Chips  of 
cedar  posts,  moistened  with  water,  have  supported  horses  for  two 
or  three  weeks,  during  a  long  voyage  from  Boston  to  Surinam; 
and  the  indigestible  cover  of  an  old  Bible,  preserved  the  life  of 
a  dog,  accidentally  confined  in  a  room  at  New  Castle  upon  Tyne, 
for  twenty  days.  5.  Food  stimulates  the  whole  body  by  means  of 
the  process  of  digestion  which  goes  forward  in  the  stomach.  This 
animal  function  is  carried  on  in  part  by  fermentation,  in  which 
there  is  an  extrication  of  heat,  and  air.  Now  both  these,  it  has 
been  remarked,  exert  a  stimulus  in  promoting  animal  life. 

Drinks  when  they  consist  of  fermented  or  distilled  liquors, 
stimulate  from  their  quality;  but  when  they  consist  of  water, 
either  in  its  simple  state,  or  impregnated  with  any  sapid  sub- 
stance, they  act  principally  by  distention. 

II.  The  chyle  acts  upon  the  lacteals,  mesenteric  glands,  and 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          143 

thoracic  duct,  in  its  passage  through  them;  and  it  is  highly  prob- 
able, its  first  mixture  with  the  blood  in  the  subclavian  vein,  and 
its  first  action  on  the  heart,  are  attended  with  considerable  stimu- 
lating effects. 

III.  The  blood  is  a  very  important  internal  stimulus.  It  has 
been  disputed  whether  it  acts  by  its  quality,  or  only  by  distend- 
ing the  blood  vessels.  It  appears  to  act  in  both  ways.  I  believe 
with  Dr.  Whytt,  that  the  blood  stimulates  the  heart  and  arteries 
by  a  specific  action.  But  if  this  be  not  admitted,  its  influence  in 
distending  the  blood  vessels  in  every  part  of  the  body,  and 
thereby  imparting  extensive  and  uniform  impressions  to  every 
animal  fibre,  cannot  be  denied. — In  support  of  this  assertion  it 
has  been  remarked,  that  in  those  persons  who  die  of  hunger, 
there  is  no  diminution  of  the  quantity  of  blood  in  the  large  blood 
vessels. 

IV.  A  certain  TENSION  of  the  glands,  and  of  other  parts  of  the 
body,  contributes  to  support  animal  life.  This  is  evident  in  the 
vigor  which  is  imparted  to  the  system,  by  the  fulness  of  the 
seminal  vesicle  and  gall  bladder,  and  by  the  distention  of  the 
uterus  in  pregnancy.  This  distention  is  so  great,  in  some  instances, 
as  to  prevent  sleep  for  many  days  and  even  weeks  before  de- 
livery. It  serves  the  valuable  purpose  of  rendering  the  female 
system  less  liable  to  death  during  its  continuance,  than  at  any 
other  time.  By  increasing  the  quantity  of  life  in  the  body,  it  often 
suspends  the  fatal  issue  of  pulmonary  consumption,  and  ensures 
a  temporary  victory  over  the  plague  and  other  malignant  fevers; 
for  death,  from  those  diseases,  seldom  takes  place  until  the  stim- 
ulus, from  the  distention  of  the  uterus,  is  removed  by  parturition. 

V.  The  exercises  of  the  faculties  of  the  mind  have  a  wonder- 
ful influence  in  increasing  the  quantity  of  human  life.  They  all 
act  by  reflection  only,  after  having  been  previously  excited  into 
action  by  impressions  made  upon  the  body.  This  view,  of  the 
reaction  of  the  mind  upon  the  body,  accords  with  the  simplicity 
of  other  operations  in  the  animal  economy.  It  is  thus  the  brain 
repays  the  heart  for  the  blood  it  conveys  to  it,  by  reacting  upon 
its  muscular  fibres. — The  influence  of  the  different  faculties  of 


144       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

the  mind  is  felt  in  the  pulse,  in  the  stomach,  and  in  the  liver,  and 
is  seen  in  the  face,  and  other  external  parts  of  the  body.  Those 
which  act  most  unequivocally  in  promoting  life,  are  the  under- 
standing, the  imagination,  and  the  passions.  Thinking  belongs  to 
the  understanding,  and  is  attended  with  an  obvious  influence 
upon  the  degree  and  duration  of  life.  Intense  study  has  often  ren- 
dered the  body  insensible  to  the  debilitating  effects  of  cold,  and 
hunger.  Men  of  great  and  active  understandings,  who  blend  with 
their  studies,  temperance  and  exercise,  are  generally  long  lived. 
In  support  of  this  assertion,  a  hundred  names  might  be  added  to 
those  of  Newton  and  Franklin.  Its  truth  will  be  more  fully  estab- 
lished by  attending  to  the  state  of  human  life  in  persons  of  an 
opposite  intellectual  character.  The  Cretins,  a  race  of  idiots  in 
Valais  in  Switzerland,  travellers  tell  us,  are  all  short  lived.  Com- 
mon language  justifies  the  opinion  of  the  stimulus  of  the  under- 
standing upon  the  brain,  hence  it  is  common  to  say  of  dull  men, 
that  they  have  scarcely  ideas  enough  to  keep  themselves  awake. 

The  imagination  acts  with  great  force  upon  the  body, 
whether  its  numerous  associations  produce  pleasure  or  pain.  But 
the  passions  pour  a  constant  stream  upon  the  wheels  of  life.  They 
have  been  subdivided  into  emotions  and  passions  properly  so 
called.  The  former  have  for  their  objects  present,  the  latter, 
future  good  and  evil.  All  the  objects  of  the  passions  are  accom- 
panied with  desire  or  aversion.  To  the  former  belong  chiefly, 
hope,  love,  ambition,  and  avarice;  to  the  latter — fear,  hatred, 
malice,  envy  and  the  like.  Joy,  anger,  and  terror,  belong  to  the 
class  of  emotions.  The  passions  and  emotions  have  been  further 
divided  into  stimulating  and  sedative.  Our  business  at  present  is 
to  consider  their  first  effect  only  upon  the  body.  In  the  original 
constitution  of  human  nature,  we  were  made  to  be  stimulated 
by  such  passions  and  emotions  only  as  have  moral  good  for  their 
objects.  Man  was  designed  to  be  always  under  the  influence  of 
hope,  love,  and  joy.  By  the  loss  of  his  innocence,  he  has  sub- 
jected himself  to  the  dominion  of  passions  and  emotions  of  a 
malignant  nature;  but  they  possess,  in  common  with  such  as  are 
good,  a  stimulus  which  renders  them  subservient  to  the  purpose 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          145 

of  promoting  animal  life.  It  is  true,  they  are  like  the  stimulus 
of  a  dislocated  bone  in  their  operation  upon  the  body,  compared 
with  the  action  of  antagonist  muscles  stretched  over  bones,  which 
gently  move  in  their  natural  sockets.  The  effects  of  the  good 
passions  and  emotions,  in  promoting  health  and  longevity,  have 
been  taken  notice  of  by  many  writers.  They  produce  a  flame, 
gentle  and  pleasant,  like  oil  perfumed  with  frankincense  in  the 
lamp  of  life.  There  are  instances  likewise  of  persons  who  have 
derived  strength,  and  long  life  from  the  influence  of  .the  evil 
passions  and  emotions  that  have  been  mentioned.  Dr.  Darwin 
relates  the  history  of  a  man,  who  used  to  overcome  the  fatigue 
induced  by  travelling,  by  thinking  of  a  person  whom  he  hated. 
The  debility  induced  by  disease,  is  often  removed  by  a  sudden 
change  in  the  temper.  This  is  so  common,  that  even  nurses  pre- 
dict a  recovery  in  persons  as  soon  as  they  become  peevish  and 
ill-natured,  after  having  been  patient  during  the  worst  stage  of 
their  sickness.  This  peevishness  acts  as  a  gentle  stimulus  upon  the 
system  in  its  languid  state,  and  thus  turns  the  scale  in  favour 
of  life  and  health.  The  famous  Benjamin  Lay  of  this  state,  who 
lived  to  be  eighty  years  of  age,  was  of  a  very  irascible  temper. 
Old  Elwes  was  a  prodigy  of  avarice,  and  every  court  in  Europe 
furnishes  instances  of  men  who  have  attained  to  extreme  old  age, 
who  have  lived  constantly  under  the  dominion  of  ambition.  In 
the  course  of  a  long  inquiry,  which  I  instituted  some  years  ago 
into  the  state  of  the  body  and  mind  in  old  people,  I  did  not  find 
a  single  person  above  eighty,  who  had  not  possessed  an  active 
understanding,  or  active  passions.  Those  different  and  opposite 
faculties  of  the  mind,  when  in  excess,  happily  supply  the  place 
of  each  other.  Where  they  unite  their  forces,  they  extinguish  the 
flame  of  life,  before  the  oil  which  feeds  it  is  consumed. 

In  another  place  I  shall  resume  the  influence  of  the  faculties 
of  the  mind  upon  human  life,  as  they  discover  themselves  in  the 
different  pursuits  of  men. 

I  have  only  to  add  here,  that  I  see  no  occasion  to  admit,  with 
the  followers  of  Dr.  Brown,  that  the  mind  is  active  in  sleep,  in 
preserving  the  motions  of  life.  I  hope  to  establish  hereafter  the 


146       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

opinion  of  Mr.  Locke,  that  the  mind  is  always  passive  in  sound 
sleep.  It  is  true  it  acts  in  dreams;  but  these  depend  upon  a  morbid 
state  of  the  brain,  and  therefore  do  not  belong  to  the  present 
stage  of  our  subject;  for  I  am  now  considering  animal  life  only 
in  the  healthy  states  of  the  body.  I  shall  say  presently,  that  dreams 
are  intended  to  supply  the  absence  of  some  natural  stimulus,  and 
hence  we  find  they  occur  in  those  persons  most  commonly,  in 
whom  there  is  a  want  of  healthy  action  in  the  system  induced 
by  the  excess,  or  deficiency  of  customary  stimuli. 

Life  is  in  a  languid  state,  in  the  morning.  It  acquires  vigor 
by  the  gradual,  and  successive  application  of  stimuli  in  the  fore- 
noon. It  is  in  its  most  perfect  state  about  midday,  and  remains 
stationary  for  some  hours.  From  the  diminution  of  the  sensibility 
and  contractility  of  the  system  to  action  of  impr^sions,  it  lessens 
in  the  evening,  and  becomes  again  languid  at  bedtime.  These 
facts  will  admit  of  an  extensive  application  hereafter  in  our  lec- 
tures upon  the  practice  of  physic. 

LECTURE  II 

GENTLEMEN, 

The  stimuli  which  have  been  enumerated,  when  they  act  col- 
lectively, and  within  certain  bounds,  produce  a  healthy  waking 
state.  But  they  do  not  always  act  collectively,  nor  in  the  deter- 
mined and  regular  manner  that  has  been  described.  There  is  in 
many  states  of  the  system,  a  deficiency  of  some  stimuli,  and  in 
some  of  its  states,  an  apparent  absence  of  them  all.  To  account 
for  the  continuance  of  animal  life  under  such  circumstances, 
two  things  must  be  premised,  before  we  proceed  to  take  notice 
of  the  diminution,  or  absence  of  the  stimuli  which  support  it. 

i .  The  healthy  actions  of  the  body  in  the  waking  state,  con- 
sist in  a  proper  degree  of  what  has  been  called  excitability,  and 
excitement.  The  former  is  the  medium  on  which  stimuli  act  in 
producing  the  latter.  In  an  exact  proportion,  and  a  due  relation 
of  both,  diffused  uniformly  throughout  every  part  of  the  body, 
consists  good  health.  Disease  is  the  reverse  of  this.  It  depends  in 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          147 

part  upon  a  disproportion  between  excitement  and  excitability, 
and  in  a  partial  distribution  of  each  of  them.  In  thus  distinguish- 
ing the  different  states  of  excitement  and  excitability  in  health 
and  sickness,  you  see  I  dissent  from  Dr.  Brown,  who  supposes 
them  to  be  uniform  and  equable,  in  the  morbid,  as  well  as  the 
healthy  states  of  the  body. 

2.  It  is  a  law  of  the  system,  that  the  absence  of  one  natural 
stimulus  is  generally  supplied  by  the  increased  action  of  others. 
This  is  more  certainly  the  case,  where  a  natural  stimulus  is  ab- 
stracted suddenly;  for  the  excitability  is  thereby  so  instantly 
formed  and  accumulated,  as  to  furnish  a  highly  sensible  and 
moveable  surface  for  the  remaining  stimuli  to  act  upon.  Many 
proofs  might  be  adduced  in  support  of  this  proposition.  The 
reduction  of  the  excitement  of  the  blood  vessels,  by  means  of 
cold,  prepares  the  way  for  a  full  meal,  or  a  warm  bed,  to  excite 
in  them  the  morbid  actions  which  take  place  in  a  pleurisy  or  a 
rheumatism.  A  horse  in  a  cold  stable  eats  more  than  in  a  warm 
one;  and  thus  counteracts  the  debility  which  would  otherwise 
be  induced  upon  his  system,  by  the  abstraction  of  the  stimulus 
of  warm  air. 

These  two  propositions  being  admitted,  I  proceed  next  to 
inquire  into  the  different  degrees  and  states  of  animal  life.  The 
first  departure  from  its  ordinary  and  perfect  state,  which  strikes 
us,  is  in 

I.  Sleep:  This  is  either  natural  or  artificial.  Natural  sleep  is 
induced  by  a  diminution  of  the  excitement,  and  excitability  of 
the  system  by  the  continued  application  of  the  stimuli  which  act 
upon  the  body  in  its  waking  state.  When  these  stimuli  act  in  a 
determined  degree,  that  is,  when  the  same  number  of  stimuli  act 
with  the  same  force,  and  for  the  same  time,  upon  the  system; 
sleep  will  be  brought  on  at  the  same  hour  every  night.  But  when 
they  act  with  uncommon  force,  or  for  an  unusual  time,  it  is 
brought  on  at  an  earlier  hour.  Thus  a  long  walk,  or  ride  by  per- 
sons accustomed  to  a  sedentary  life,  unusual  exercise  of  the 
understanding,  the  action  of  strong  passions,  or  emotions,  and 
the  continual  application  of  unusual  sounds  seldom  fail  of  in- 


148       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

ducing  premature  sleep.  It  is  recorded  of  Pope  Ganganelli,  that 
he?  slept  more  soundly,  and  longer  than  usual,  the  night  after 
he  was  raised  to  the  papal  chair.  The  effects  of  unusual  sounds 
in  bringing  on  premature  sleep,  is  further  demonstrated  by  that 
constant  inclination  to  retire  to  bed  at  an  early  hour,  which 
country  people  discover  the  first  and  second  days  they  spend 
in  a  city,  exposed  frcgii  morning  till  night  to  the  noise  of  ham- 
mers, files  and  looms,  or  of  drays,  carts,  waggons,  and  coaches 
rattling  over  pavements  of  stone. — Sleep  is  further  hastened  by 
the  absence  of  light,  the  cessation  of  sounds,  and  labor,  and  the 
recumbent  posture  of  the  body  on  a  soft  bed. 

Artificial  sleep  may  be  induced  at  any  time  by  certain  stimu- 
lating substances,  particularly  by  opium.  They  act  by  carrying 
the  system  beyond  the  healthy  grade  of  excitement,  to  a  degree 
of  indirect  debility  which  Dr.  Brown  has  happily  called  the 
sleeping  point.  The  same  point  may  be  induced  in  the  system 
at  any  time  by  the  artificial  abstraction  of  the  usual  stimuli  of 
life.  For  example.  Let  a  person  shut  himself  up  at  mid-day  in  a 
dark  room,  remote  from  noise  of  all  kinds,  let  him  lie  down  on 
his  back  upon  a  soft  bed  in  a  temperate  state  of  the  atmosphere, 
and  let  him  cease  to  think  upon  interesting  subjects,  or  let  him 
think  only  upon  one  subject,  and  he  will  soon  fall  asleep.  Dr. 
Boerhaave  relates  an  instance  of  a  Dutch  physician  who  having 
persuaded  himself  that  waking  was  a  violent  state,  and  sleep  the 
only  natural  one  of  the  system;  contrived  by  abstracting  every 
kind  of  stimulus  in  the  manner  that  has  been  mentioned,  to  sleep 
away  whole  days  and  nights,  until  at  length  he  impaired  his 
understanding,  and  finally  perished  in  a  public  hospital  in  a  state 
of  idiotism. 

In  thus  anticipating  a  view  of  the  cause  of  sleep,  I  have  said 
nothing  of  the  effects  of  diseases  of  the  brain  in  inducing  it. 
These  belong  to  another  part  of  our  course.  The  short  explana- 
tion I  have  given  of  its  cause,  was  necessary  in  order  to  render 
the  history  of  animal  life,  in  that  state  of  the  system,  more  in- 
telligible. 

At  the  usual  hour  of  sleep  there  is  an  abstraction  of  the  stim- 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          149 

uli  of  light,  sound  and  muscular  motion.  The  stimuli  which 
remain,  and  act  with  an  increased  force  upon  the  body  in  sleep 
are, 

1.  The  heat  which  is  discharged  from  the  body,  and  confined 
by  means  of  bed  clothes.  It  is  most  perceptible  when  exhaled 
from  a  bed  fellow.  Heat  obtained  in  this  way,  has  sometimes 
been  employed  to  restore  declining  life  to  the  bodies  of  old 
people.  Witness  the  damsel  who  lay  for  this  purpose  in  the  bosom 
of  the  king  of  Israel.  The  advantage  of  this  external  heat  will 
appear  further,  when  we  consider  how  impracticable,  or  im- 
perfect sleep  is,  when  we  lie  under  too  light  covering  in  cold 
weather. 

2.  The  air  which  is  applied  to  the  lungs  during  sleep  prob- 
ably acts  with  more  force  than  in  the  waking  state.  I  am  dis- 
posed to  believe  that  more  air  is  phlogisticated  in  sleep  than  at 
any  other  time,  for  the  smell  of  a  close  room  in  which  a  person 
has  slept  one  night,  we  know,  is  much  more  disagreeable  than 
that  of  a  room  under  equal  circumstances,  in  which  half  a  dozen 
people  have  sat  for  the  same  number  of  hours  in  the  day  time. — 
The  action  of  decomposed  air  on  the  lungs  and  heart  was  spoken 
of  in  a  former  lecture.  An  increase  in  its  quantity  must  necessarily 
have  a  powerful  influence  upon  animal  life  during  the  sleeping 
state. 

3.  Respiration  is  performed  with  a  greater  extension,  and  con- 
traction of  the  muscles  of  the  breast  in  sleep  than  in  the  waking 
state;  and  this  cannot  fail  of  increasing  the  impetus  of  the  blood 
in  its  passage  through  the  heart  and  blood  vessels.  The  increase 
of  the  fulness  and  force  of  the  pulse  in  sleep,  is  probably  owing 
in  part  to  the  action  of  respiration  upon  it.  In  another  place  I 
hope  to  elevate  the  rank  of  the  blood  vessels  in  the  animal  econ- 
omy, by  shewing  that  they  are  the  fountains  of  power  in  the 
body.  They  derive  this  preeminence  from  the  protection  and 
support  they  afford  to  every  part  of  the  system.  They  are  the 
perpetual  centinels  of  health  and  life;  for  they  never  partake  in 
the  repose  which  is  enjoyed  by  the  muscles  and  nerves.  During 
sleep,  their  sensibility  seems  to  be  converted  into  contractility, 


1 5o       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

by  which  means  their  muscular  fibres  are  more  easily  moved  by 
the  blood,  than  in  the  waking  state.  The  diminution  of  sensi- 
bility in  sleep  is  proved  by  many  facts  to  be  mentioned  here- 
after; and  the  change  of  sensibility  into  contractility  will  appear, 
when  we  come  to  consider  the  state  of  animal  life  in  infancy  and 
old  age. 

4.  Aliment  in  the  stomach  acts  more  powerfully  in  sleep, 
than  in  the  waking  state.  This  is  evident  from  digestion  going 
on  more  rapidly  when  we  are  awake  than  when  we  sleep. — The 
more  flow  the  digestion,  the  greater  is  the  stimulus  of  the  aliment 
in  the  stomach.  Of  this  we  have  many  proofs  in  daily  life.  La- 
bourers object  to  milk  as  a  breakfast;  because  it  digests  too  soon, 
and  often  call  for  food  in  a  morning,  which  they  can  feel  all 
day  in  their  stomachs.  Sausages,  fat  pork,  and  onions  are  generally 
preferred  by  them  for  this  purpose.  A  moderate  supper  is  favour- 
able to  easy  and  sound  sleep;  and  the  want  of  it  in  persons  who 
are  accustomed  to  that  meal,  is  often  followed  by  a  restless  night. 
The  absence  of  its  stimulus  is  probably  supplied  by  a  full  gall 
bladder  (which  always  attends  an  empty  stomach)  in  persons 
who  are  not  in  the  habit  of  eating  suppers. 

5.  The  stimulus  of  the  urine,  accumulated  in  the  bladder 
during  sleep,  has  a  perceptible  influence  upon  animal  life.  It  is 
often  so  considerable  as  to  interrupt  sleep;  and  it  is  one  of  the 
causes  of  our  waking  at  a  regular  hour  in  the  morning.  It  is 
moreover  a  frequent  cause  of  the  activity  of  the  understanding 
and  passions  in  dreams;  and  hence  we  dream  more  in  our  morn- 
ing slumbers  when  the  bladder  is  full,  than  we  do  in  the  begin- 
ning, or  middle  of  the  night. 

6.  The  faeces  exert  a  constant  stimulus  upon  the  bowels  in 
sleep.  This  is  so  considerable  as  to  render  it  less  profound,  when 
they  have  been  accumulated  for  two  or  three  days,  or  when 
they  have  been  deposited  in  the  extremity  of  the  alimentary 
canal. 

7.  The  partial  and  irregular  exercises  of  the  understanding 
and  passions  in  dreams  have  an  occasional  influence  in  promoting 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          151 

life.  They  occur  only  where  there  is  a  deficiency  of  other  stim- 
uli. Such  is  the  force  with  which  the  mind  acts  upon  the  body 
in  dreams,  that  Dr.  Brambilla,  physician  to  the  emperor  of  Ger- 
many, informs  us,  that  he  has  seen  instances  of  wounds  in  sol- 
diers being  inflamed,  and  putting  on  a  gangrenous  appearance 
in  consequence  of  the  commotions  excited  in  their  bodies  by 
irritating  dreams.  The  stimulating  passions  act  through  the  me- 
dium of  the  will;  and  the  exercises  of  this  faculty  of  the  mind 
sometimes  extend  so  far  as  to  produce  actions  in  the  muscles  of 
the  limbs,  and  occasionally  in  the  whole  body,  as  we  see  in  per- 
sons who  walk  in  their  sleep.  The  stimulus  of  lust  often  awakens 
us  with  pleasure  or  pain,  according  as  we  are  disposed  to  respect, 
or  disobey  the  precepts  of  our  Maker.  The  angry  and  revenge- 
ful passions  often  deliver  us  in  like  manner,  from  the  imaginary 
guilt  of  murder.  Even  the  debilitating  passions  of  grief,  and  fear, 
produce  an  indirect  operation  upon  the  system  that  is  favourable 
to  life  in  sleep,  for  they  excite  that  distressing  disease  called  the 
night  mare,  which  prompts  us  to  speak,  or  halloo,  and  by  thus 
invigorating  respiration,  restores  the  languid  circulation  of  the 
blood  in  the  heart  and  brain.  Do  not  complain  then,  gentlemen, 
when  you  are  bestrode  by  this  midnight  hag.  She  is  kindly  sent 
to  prevent  your  sudden  death.  Persons  who  go  to  bed  in  good 
health,  and  are  found  dead  the  succeeding  morning,  are  said  most 
commonly  to  die  of  this  disease. 

I  cannot  dismiss  the  subject  of  the  stimulating  effects  of 
dreams,  without  taking  notice  of  an  opinion  of  Dr.  Darwin 
which  is  connected  with  it.  He  supposes  dreams  are  never  at- 
tended with  volition.  The  facts  which  have  been  mentioned, 
prove,  that  the  will  frequently  acts  with  more  force  in  them, 
than  in  the  waking  state. 

I  proceed  now  to  inquire  into  the  state  of  animal  life  in  its 
different  stages.  I  pass  over  for  the  present  its  history  in  gen- 
eration. It  will  be  sufficient  only  to  remark  in  this  place,  that  its 
first  motion  is  produced  by  the  stimulus  of  the  male  seed  upon 
the  female  ovum.  This  opinion  is  not  originally  mine.  You  will 


i52       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

find  it  in  Dr.  Haller.*  The  pungent  taste  which  Mr.  John  Hunter 
discovered  in  the  male  seed,  renders  it  peculiarly  fit  for  this  pur- 
pose. No  sooner  is  the  female  ovum  thus  set  in  motion,  and  the 
foetus  formed,  than  its  capacity  of  life  is  supported, 

1 .  By  the  stimulus  of  the  heat  which  it  derives  from  its  con- 
nection with  its  mother  in  the  womb. 

2.  By  the  stimulus  of  its  own  circulating  blood. 

3.  By  its  constant  motion  in  the  womb  after  the  third  month 
of  pregnancy.  The  absence  of  this  motion  for  a  few  days,  is 
always  a  sign  of  the  indisposition  or  death  of  a  foetus.  Consider- 
ing how  early  a  child  is  accustomed  to  it,  it  is  strange  that  a 
cradle  should  ever  have  been  denied  to  it  after  it  comes  into  the 
world. 

II.  In  infants  there  is  an  absence  of  many  of  the  stimuli  which 
support  life. — Their  excretions  arc  in  a  great  measure  deficient 
in  acrimony,  and  their  mental  faculties  are  too  weak  to  exert 
much  influence  upon  their  bodies.  But  the  absence  of  stimulus 
from  those  causes,  is  amply  supplied 

i.  By  the  very  great  excitability  of  their  systems  to  those 
of  light,  sound,  heat,  and  air.  So  powerfully  do  light  and  sound 
act  upon  them,  that  the  author  of  nature  has  kindly  defended 
their  eyes  and  ears  from  an  excess  of  their  impressions  by  im- 
perfect vision,  and  hearing,  for  several  weeks  after  birth.  The 
capacity  of  infants  to  be  acted  upon  by  moderate  degrees  of 
heat  is  evident  from  their  suffering  less  from  cold  than  grown 
people.  This  is  so  much  the  case,  that  we  read  in  Mr.  Umfreville's 
account  of  Hudson's  Bay,  of  a  child  that  was  found  alive  upon 
the  back  of  its  mother  after  she  was  frozen  to  death.  I  before 
hinted  at  the  action  of  the  air  upon  the  bodies  of  new  born  infants 
in  producing  the  red  color  of  their  skins.  It  is  highly  probable, 
(from  a  fact  formerly  mentioned)  that  the  first  impression  of 
the  atmosphere  which  produces  this  redness  is  accompanied  with 
pain,  and  this  we  know  is  a  stimulus  of  a  very  active  nature. 
By  a  kind  law  of  sensation,  impressions,  that  were  originally 

*  "Novum  fcetum  a  seminis  masculi  stimulo  vitam  concepisse."  Ele- 
menta  Physiologiae,  vol.  viii.  p.  177. 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          153 

painful,  become  pleasurable  by  repetition,  or  duration.  This  is 
remarkably  evident  in  the  impression  now  under  consideration, 
and  hence  we  find  infants  at  a  certain  age,  discover  signs  of  an 
increase  of  life  by  their  delightful  gestures,  when  they  are  car- 
ried into  the  open  air.  Recollect  further,  gentlemen,  what  was 
said  formerly,  of  excitability,  predominating  over  sensibility  in 
infants.  We  see  it  daily,  not  only  in  their  patience  of  cold,  but 
in  the  short  time  in  which  they  cease  to  complain  of  the  injuries 
they  meet  with  from  falls,  cuts,  and  even  severe  surgical  opera- 
tions. 

2.  Animal  life  is  supported  in  infants  by  their  sucking,  or 
feeding,  nearly  every  hour  in  the  day,  and  night  when  they  are 
awake.  I  explained  formerly  the  manner  in  which  food  stimu- 
lated the  system.  The  action  of  sucking,  supplies  by  the  muscles 
employed  in  it,  the  stimulus  of  mastication. 

3.  Laughing  and  Crying,  which  are  universal  in  infancy,  have 
a  considerable  influence  in  promoting  animal  life,  by  their  action 
upon  respiration,  and  the  circulation  of  the  blood.  Laughing 
exists  under  all  circumstances,  independently  of  education  or 
imitation.  The  child  of  a  negro  slave  born  only  to  inherit  the 
toils  and  misery  of  its  parents,  receives  its  master  with  a  smile 
every  time  he  enters  his  kitchen,  or  a  negro-quarter.  But  laugh- 
ing exists  in  infancy  under  circumstances  still  more  unfavour- 
able to  it,  an  instance  of  which  is  related  by  Mr.  Bruce.  After 
a  journey  of  several  hundred  miles  across  the  sands  of  Nubia, 
he  came  to  a  spring  of  water  shaded  by  a  few  scrubby  trees.  Here 
he  intended  to  have  rested  during  the  night,  but  he  had  not  slept 
long,  before  he  was  awakened  by  a  noise  which  he  perceived  was 
made  by  a  solitary  Arab  equally  fatigued,  and  half  famished  with 
himself,  who  was  preparing  to  murder  and  plunder  him.  Mr. 
.Bruce  rushed  upon  him,  and  made  him  his  prisoner.  The  next 
morning  he  was  joined  by  a  half  starved  female  companion, 
with  an  infant  of  six  months  old  in  her  arms.  In  passing  by  this 
child,  Mr.  Bruce  says  it  laughed  and  crowed  in  his  face,  and 
attempted  to  leap  upon  him.  From  this  fact  it  would  seem  as  if 
laughing  was  not  only  characteristic  of  our  species,  but  that  it 


i54       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

was  early  and  intimately  connected  with  human  life.  The  child 
of  these  Arabs  had  probably  never  seen  a  smile  upon  the  faces 
of  its  ferocious  parents,  and  perhaps  had  never,  (before  the  sight 
of  Mr.  Bruce),  beheld  any  other  human  creature. 

Crying  has  a  considerable  influence  upon  health  and  life  in 
children.  I  have  seen  so  many  instances  of  its  salutary  effects, 
that  I  have  satisfied  myself  that  it  is  as  possible  for  a  child  to 
"cry  and  be  fat,"  as  it  is  to  "laugh  and  be  fat." 

4.  As  children  advance  in  life,  the  constancy  of  their  appe- 
tites for  food,  and  their  disposition  to  laugh,  and  cry,  lessen, 
but  the  diminution  of  these  stimuli  is  supplied  by  exercise.  The 
limbs,  and  tongues  of  children  are  always  in  motion.  They 
continue  likewise  to  eat  oftener  than  adults.  A  crust  of  bread 
is  commonly  the  last  thing  they  ask  for  at  night,  and  the  first 
thing  they  call  for  in  the  morning.  It  is  now  they  begin  to  feel 
the  energy  of  their  mental  faculties.  This  stimulus  is  assisted 
in  its  force,  by  the  disposition  to  prattle  which  is  so  universal 
among  children.  This  habit  of  converting  their  ideas  into  words 
as  fast  as  they  rise,  follows  them  to  their  beds,  where  we  often 
hear  them  talk  themselves  to  sleep  in  a  whisper,  or  to  use  less 
correct,  but  more  striking  terms,  by  thinking  aloud. 

5.  Dreams  act  at  an  early  period  upon  the  bodies  of  children. 
Their  smiles,  startings,  and  occasional  screams  in  their  sleep 
appear  to  arise  from  them.  After  the  third  or  fourth  year  of  their 
lives,  they  sometimes  confound  them  with  things  that  are  real. 
From  observing  the  effects  of  this  mistake  upon  the  memory,  a 
sensible  woman  whom  I  once  knew,  forbad  her  children  to  tell 
their  dreams,  lest  they  should  contract  habits  of  lying,  by  con- 
founding imaginary,  with  real  events. 

6.  New  objects  whether  natural  or  artificial,  are  never  seen 
by  children  without  emotions  of  pleasure  which  act  upon  their 
capacity  of  life.  The  effects  of  novelty  upon  the  tender  bodies 
of  children  may  easily  be  conceived,  by  its  friendly  influence 
upon  the  health  of  invalids  who  visit  foreign  countries,  and  who 
pass  months,  or  years  in  a  constant  succession  of  new  and  agree- 
able impressions. 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          155 

III.  From  the  combination  of  all  the  stimuli  that  have  been 
enumerated,  human  life  is  generally  in  excess  from  fifteen  to 
thirty-five.  It  is  during  this  period,  the  passions  blow  a  perpetual 
storm.  The  most  predominating  of  them  is  the  love  of  pleasure. 
No  sooner  does  the  system  become  insensible  to  this  stimulus, 
than  ambition  succeeds  it  in, 

IV.  The  middle  stage  of  life.  Here  we  behold  man  in  his 
most  perfect  physical  state.  The  stimuli  which  now  act  upon 
him  are  so  far  regulated  by  prudence,  that  they  are  seldom  ex- 
cessive in  their  force.  The  habits  of  order  the  system  acquires  in 
this  period,  continue  to  produce  good  health  for  many  years 
afterwards,  and  hence  bills  of  mortality  prove  that  fewer  persons 
die  between  forty  and  fifty-seven;  than  in  any  other  seventeen 
years  of  human  life. 

V.  In  OLD  AGE  the  senses  of  seeing,  hearing  and  touch  are 
impaired.  The  venereal  appetite  is  weakened,  or  entirely  extin- 
guished. The  pulse  becomes  slow,  and  subject  to  frequent  in- 
termissions, from  a  decay  in  the  force  of  the  blood  vessels; 
Exercise  becomes  impracticable,  or  irksome,  and  the  operations 
of  the  understanding  are  performed  with  languor  and  difficulty. 
In  this  shattered  and  declining  state  of  the  system,  the  absence 
and  diminution  of  all  the  stimuli  which  have  been  mentioned 
are  supplied, 

1 .  By  an  increase  in  the  quantity,  and  by  the  peculiar  quality 
of  the  food  which  is  taken  by  old  people.  They  generally  eat 
twice  as  much  as  persons  in  middle  life,  and  they  bear  with  pain 
the  usual  intervals  between  meals.  They  moreover  prefer  that 
kind  of  food  which  is  savoury  and  stimulating.  The  stomach  of 
the  celebrated  Parr,  who  died  in  the  one  hundred  and  fiftieth 
year  of  his  age,  was  found  full  of  strong,  nourishing  aliment. 

2.  By  the  stimulus  of  the  faeces  which  are  frequently  retained 
for  five  or  six  days  in  the  bowels  of  old  people. 

3.  By  the  stimulus  of  fluids  rendered  preternaturally  acrid  by 
age.  The  urine,  sweat  and  even  the  tears  of  old  people,  possesses  a 
peculiar  acrimony.  Their  blood  likewise  loses  part  of  the  mild- 
ness which  is  natural  to  that  fluid;  and  hence  the  difficulty  with 


156       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

which  sores  heal  in  old  people;  and  hence  too  the  reason  why 
cancers  are  more  common  in  the  decline,  than  in  any  other  period 
of  human  life. 

4.  By  the  uncommon  activity  of  certain  passions.  These  are 
either  good  or  evil.  To  the  former  belong  an  increased  vigor  in 
the  operations  of  those  passions  which  have  for  their  objects  the 
Divine  Being,  or  the  whole  family  of  mankind,  or  their  own 
offspring,  particularly  their  grand-children.  To  the  latter  pas- 
sions belong,  malice,  a  hatred  of  the  manners  and  fashions  of  the 
rising  generation,  and  above  all,  avarice.  This  passion  knows  no 
holidays.  Its  stimulus  is  constant,  though  varied  daily  by  the 
numerous  means  which  it  has  discovered  of  increasing,  securing, 
and  perpetuating  property.  It  has  been  observed   that  weak 
mental  impressions  produce  much  greater  effects  in  old  people 
than  in  persons  in  middle  life.  A  trifling  indisposition  in  a  grand- 
child, an  inadvertent  act  of  unkindness  from  a  friend,  or  the  fear 
of  losing  a  few  shillings,  have  in  many  instances  produced  in 
them  a  degree  of  wakef ulness  that  has  continued  for  two  or  three 
nights.  It  is  to  this  highly  excitable  state  of  the  system  that  Solo- 
mon probably  alludes,  when  he  describes  the  grasshopper  as 
burdensome  to  old  people. 

5.  By  the  passion  for  talking,  which  is  so  common,  as  to  be 
one  of  the  characteristics  of  old  age.  I  mentioned  formerly,  the 
influence  of  this  stimulus  upon  animal  life.  Perhaps  it  is  more 
necessary  in  the  female  constitution  than  in  the  male;  for  it  has 
long  ago  been  remarked,  that  women  who  are  very  taciturn, 
are  generally  unhealthy. 

6.  By  their  wearing  warmer  clothes,  and  preferring  warmer 
rooms,  than  in  the  former  periods  of  their  lives.  This  practice  is 
so  uniform,  that  it  would  not  be  difficult  in  many  cases  to  tell 
a  man's  age  by  his  dress,  or  by  finding  out  at  what  degree  of 
heat  he  found  himself  comfortable  in  a  close  room. 

7.  By  dreams.  These  are  universal  among  old  people.  They 
arise  from  their  short  and  imperfect  sleep. 

8.  It  has  been  often  said  that  "We  are  once  men,  and  twice 
children."  In  speaking  of  the  state  of  animal  life  in  infancy,  I 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          157 

remarked  that  the  contractility  of  the  animal  fibres,  predomi- 
nated over  their  sensibility  in  that  stage  of  life.  The  same  thing 
takes  place  in  old  people,  and  it  is  in  consequence  of  the  return 
of  this  infantile  state  of  the  system,  that  all  the  stimuli  which 
have  been  mentioned  act  upon  them  with  much  more  force  than 
in  middle  life.  This  sameness,  in  the  predominance  of  excitability 
over  sensibility  in  children  and  old  people,  will  account  for  the 
similarity  of  their  habits  with  respect  to  eating,  sleep,  exercise, 
and  the  use  of  fermented  or  distilled  liquors.  It  is  from  the  in- 
crease of  excitability  in  old  people,  that  so  small  a  quantity  of 
strong  drink  intoxicates  them;  and  it  is  from  an  ignorance  of  this 
change  in  their  constitutions,  that  many  of  them  become  drunk- 
ards after  passing  the  early  and  middle  stages  of  life  with  sober 
characters. 

Life  is  continued  in  a  less  imperfect  state  in  old  age,  in  women 
than  in  men.  The  former  sew,  and  knit,  and  spin,  after  they  lose 
the  use  of  their  ears  and  eyes;  whereas  the  latter,  after  losing 
the  use  of  those  senses,  frequently  pass  the  evening  of  their  lives 
in  a  torpid  state  in  a  chimney  corner.  It  is  from  the  influence 
of  moderate  and  gently  -stimulating  employments,  upon  the 
female  constitution,  that  more  women  live  to  be  old,  than  men, 
and  that  they  rarely  survive  their  usefulness  in  domestic  life. 

Hitherto  the  principles  I  am  endeavouring  to  establish,  have 
been  applied  to  explain  the  cause  of  life  in  its  more  common 
forms.  Let  us  next  inquire,  how  far  they  will  enable  us  to  explain 
its  continuance  in  certain  morbid  states  of  the  body,  in  which 
there  is  a  diminution  of  some,  and  an  apparent  abstraction  of  all 
the  stimuli,  which  have  been  supposed  to  produce  animal 
life. 

I.  We  observe  some  people  to  be  blind,  or  deaf  and  dumb 
from  their  birth.  The  same  defects  of  sight,  hearing,  and  speech, 
are  sometimes  brought  on  by  diseases.  Here  animal  life  is  de- 
prived of  all  those  numerous  stimuli,  which  arise  from  light, 
colors,  sounds,  and  speech.  But  the  absence  of  these  stimuli  is 
supplied, 

i.  By  increased  sensibility  and  excitability  in  their  remaining 


158       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

senses.  The  ears,  the  nose,  and  the  fingers,  afford  a  surface  for 
impressions  in  blind  people  which  frequently  overbalances  the 
loss  of  their  eyesight.  There  are  two  blind  young  men,  brothers, 
in  this  city,  of  the  name  of  Dutton,  who  can  tell  when  they 
approach  a  post  in  walking  across  a  street,  by  a  peculiar  sound 
which  the  ground  under  their  feet  emits  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  the  post.  Their  sense  of  hearing  is  still  more  exquisite  to 
sounds  of  another  kind.  They  can  tell  the  names  of  a  number  of 
tame  pidgeons,  with  which  they  amuse  themselves  in  a  little  gar- 
den, by  only  hearing  them  fly  over  their  heads.  The  celebrated 
blind  philosopher  Dr.  Moyse  can  distinguish  a  black  dress  on  his 
friends,  by  its  smell;  and  we  read  of  many  instances  of  blind 
persons  who  have  been  able  to  perceive  colors  by  rubbing  their 
fingers  upon  them.  One  of  these  persons  mentioned  by  Mr. 
Boyle,  has  left  upon  record  an  accouitt  of  the  specific  quality  of 
each  color  as  it  affected  his  sense  of  touch.  He  says,  black  im- 
parted the  most,  and  blue,  the  least  perceptible  sense  of  asperity 
to  his  fingers. 

2.  By  an  increase  of  vigor  in  the  exercises  of  the  mental 
faculties.  The  poems  of  Homer,  Milton  and  Blacklock,  and  the 
attainments  of  Sanderson  in  mathematical  knowledge,  all  dis- 
cover how  much  the  energy  of  the  mind  is  increased  by  the 
absence  of  impressions  upon  the  organs  of  vision. 

II.  We  sometimes  behold  life  in  idiots  in  whom  there  is  not 
only  an  absence  of  the  stimuli  of  the  understanding  and  passions; 
but  frequently  from  the  weakness  of  their  bodies,  a  deficiency 
of  the  locomotive  powers.  Here  an  inordinate  appetite  for  food, 
or  venereal  pleasures,  or  a  constant  habit  of  laughing,  or  talking, 
or  playing  with  their  hands  and  feet,  supply  the  place  of  the 
stimulating  operations  of  the  mind,  and  of  general  bodily  exer- 
cise. Of  the  inordinate  force  of  the  venereal  appetite  in  idiots 
we  have  many  proofs.  The  Cretins  are  much  addicted  to  venery; 
and  Dr.  Michaelis  tells  us  that  the  idiot  whom  he  saw  at  the 
Pesaiac  falls  in  New  Jersey,  who  had  passed  six  and  twenty  years 
in  a  cradle,  acknowledged  that  he  had  venereal  desires,  and 
wished  to  be  married,  for  the  Doctor  adds,  he  had  a  sense  of 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          159 

religion  upon  his  fragment  of  mind,  and  of  course  did  not  wish 
to  gratify  that  appetite  in  an  unlawful  manner. 

III.  How  is  animal  life  supported  in  persons  who  pass  many 
days,  and  even  weeks  without  food,  and  in  some  instances  with- 
out drinks?  Long  fasting  is  usually  the  effect  of  disease,  of  neces- 
sity, or  of  a  principle  of  religion.  When  it  arises  from  the  first 
cause,  the  actions  of  life  are  kept  up  by  the  stimulus  of  disease. 
The  absence  of  food  when  accidental,  or  submitted  to  as  a  means 
of  producing  moral  happiness,  is  supplied, 

1.  By  the  stimulus  of  a  full  gall  bladder.  This  state  of  the 
receptacle  of  bile,  has  generally  been  found  to  accompany  an 
empty  stomach.  The  bile  is  sometimes  absorbed,  and  imparts  a 
yellow  color  to  the  skin  of  persons  who  suffer  or  die  of  famine. 

2.  By  increased  acrimony  in  all  the  secretions  and  excretions 
of  the  body.  The  saliva  becomes  so  acrid  by  long  fasting,  as  to 
excoriate  the  gums,  and  the  breath  acquires  not  only  a  fcetor, 
but  a  pungency  so  active,  as  to  draw  tears  from  the  eyes  of 
persons  exposed  to  it. 

3.  By  increased  sensibility  and  excitability  in  the  sense  of 
touch.  The  blind  man  mentioned  by  Mr.  Boyle  who  could  dis- 
tinguish colors  by  his  fingers,  possessed  this  talent  only  after 
fasting.  Even  a  draught  of  any  kind  of  liquor  deprived  him  of 
it.  I  have  taken  notice  in  my  account  of  the  yellow  fever  in 
Philadelphia  in  the  year  1793,  of  the  effects  of  a  diet  bordering 
upon  fasting  for  six  weeks,  in  producing  a  quickness  and  cor- 
rectness in  my  perceptions  of  the  state  of  the  pulse,  which  I  had 
never  experienced  before. 

4.  By  an  increase  of  activity  jn  the  understanding  and  pas- 
sions. Gamesters  often  improve  the  exercises  of  their  minds  when 
they  are  about  to  play  for  a  large  sum  of  money,  by  living  for 
a  day  or  two  upon  roasted  apples  and  cold  water.  Where  the 
passions  are  excited  into  preternatural  action,  the  absence  of  the 
stimulus  of  food  is  scarcely  felt.  I  shall  hereafter  mention  the 
influence  of  the  desire  of  life,  upon  its  preservation  under  all 
circumstances.  It  acts  with  peculiar  force  when  fasting  is  acci- 
dental. But  when  it  is  submitted  to  as  a  religious  duty,  it  is  accom-, 


160       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

panied  by  sentiments  and  feelings  which  more  than  balance  the 
abstraction  of  aliment.  The  body  of  Moses  was  sustained,  prob- 
ably without  a  miracle,  during  an  abstinence  of  forty  days  and 
forty  nights,  by  the  pleasure  he  derived  from  conversing  with 
his  Maker  "Face  to  face,  as  a  man  speaking  with  his  friend."  * 

I  remarked  formerly  that  the  veins  discover  no  deficiency  of 
blood  in  persons  who  die  of  famine.  Death  from  this  cause  seems 
to  be  less  the  eifect  of  the  want  of  food,  than  of  the  combined 
and  excessive  operation  of  the  stimuli,  which  supply  its  place 
in  the  system. 

IV.  We  come  now  to  a  difficult  inquiry,  and  that  is,  how  is 
life  supported  during  the  total  abstraction  of  external  and  in- 
ternal stimuli  which  takes  place  in  asphixia,  or  in  apparent  death, 
from  all  its  numerous  causes? 

I  took  notice  in  a  former  lecture,  that  ordinary  life  consisted 
in  the  excitement,  and  excitability  of  the  different  parts  of  the 
body;  and  that  they  were  occasionally  changed  into  each  other. 
In  apparent  death  from  violent  emotions  of  the  mind,  from  the 
sudden  impression  of  miasmata,  or  from  drowning,  there  is  a  loss 
of  excitement;  but  the  excitability  of  the  system  remains  for 
minutes,  and  in  some  instances  for  hours  afterwards  unimpaired, 
provided  the  accident  which  produced  the  loss  of  excitement 
has  not  been  attended  with  such  exertions  as  are  calculated  to 
waste  it.  If  for  example,  a  person  should  fall  suddenly  into  the 
water,  without  bruising  his  body,  and  sink  before  his  fears,  or 
exertions  had  time  to  dissipate  his  excitability;  his  recovery  from 
apparent  death  might  be  effected  by  the  gentle  action  of  heat,  or 
frictions  upon  his  body,  so  as  to  convert  his  accumulated  ex- 
citability gradually  into  excitement.  The  same  condition  of  the 
system  takes  place  when  apparent  death  occurs  from  freezing, 
and  a  recovery  is  accomplished  by  the  same  gentle  application 
of  stimuli,  provided  the  organization  of  the  body  be  not  injured, 
or  its  excitability  wasted,  by  violent  exertions  previously  to  its 
freezing.  This  excitability  is  the  vehicle  of  motion,  and  motion 
_ 3 

*  Exodus  xxxiii.  n.  xxxiv.  28. 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          161 

when  continued  long  enough  produces  sensation,  which  is  soon 
followed  by  thought;  and  in  these,  I  said  formerly,  consists  per- 
fect life  in  the  human  body. 

For  this  explanation  of  the  manner  in  which  life  is  suspended, 
and  revived  in  persons  apparently  dead  from  cold,  I  am  indebted 
to  Mr.  John  Hunter,  who  supposes,  if  it  were  possible  for  the 
body  to  be  suddenly  frozen  by  an  instantaneous  abstraction  of 
its  heat,  life  might  be  continued  for  many  years  in  a  suspended 
state,  and  revived  at  pleasure;  provided  the  body  were  preserved 
constantly  in  a  temperature  barely  sufficient  to  prevent  reanima- 
tion,  and  never  so  great,  as  to  endanger  the  destruction  of  any 
organic  part.  The  resuscitation  of  insects  that  have  been  in  a 
torpid  state  for  months,  and  perhaps  years,  in  substances  that  have 
preserved  their  organization,  should  at  least  defend  this  bold 
proposition  from  being  treated  as  chimerical.  The  effusions  even 
of  the  imagination  of  such  men  as  Mr.  Hunter,  are  entitled 
to  respect.  They  often  become  the  germs  of  future  discov- 
eries. 

In  that  state  of  suspended  animation  which  occurs  in  acute 
diseases,  and  which  has  sometimes  been  denominated  a  trance; 
the  system  is  nearly  in  the  same  excitable  state  that  it  is  in  appar- 
ent death  from  drowning,  and  freezing.  Resuscitation  in  these 
cases  is  not  the  effect  as  in  those  which  have  been  mentioned 
of  artificial  applications  made  to  the  body  for  that  purpose.  It 
appears  to  be  spontaneous;  but  it  is  produced  by  impressions 
made  upon  the  ears,  and  by  the  operations  of  the  mind  in  dreams. 
Of  the  action  of  these  stimuli  upon  the  body  in  its  apparently  life- 
less state,  I  have  satisfied  myself  by  many  facts.  I  once  attended 
a  citizen  of  Philadelphia,  who  died  of  a  pulmonary  disease  in  the 
Both  year  of  his  age.  A  few  days  before  his  death  he  begged 
that  he  might  not  be  interred  until  one  week  after  the  usual  signs 
of  life  had  left  his  body,  and  gave  as  a  reason  for  this  request, 
that  he  had  when  a  young  man,  died  to  all  appearance  of  the 
yellow  fever  in  one  of  the  West-India  islands. — In  this  situation 
he  distinctly  heard  the  persons  who  attended  him,  fix  upon  the 
time,  and  place,  of  burying  him.  The  horror  of  being  put  under 


1 62       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

ground  alive,  produced  such  distressing  emotions  in  his  mind, 
as  to  diffuse  motion  throughout  his  body,  and  finally  excited  in 
him  all  the  usual  functions  of  life.  In  Dr.  Creighton's  essay  upon 
mental  derangement  there  is  a  history  of  a  case  nearly  of  a 
similar  nature.  "A  young  lady  (says  the  Doctor)  an  attendant 

on  the  princess  of ,  after  having  been  confined  to  her  bed 

for  a  great  length  of  time,  with  a  violent  nervous  disorder,  was 
at  last,  to  all  appearance,  deprived  of  life.  Her  lips  were  quite 
pale,  her  face  resembled  the  countenance  of  a  dead  person,  and 
her  body  grew  cold.  She  was  removed  from  the  room  in  which 
she  died,  was  laid  in  a  coffin,  and  the  day  for  her  funeral  was 
fixed  on.  The  day  arrived,  and  according  to  the  custom  of  the 
country,  funeral  songs  and  hymns  were  sung  before  the  door. 
Just  as  the  people  were  about  to  nail  on  the  lid  of  the  coffin, 
a  kind  of  perspiration  was  observed  on  the  surface  of  her  body. 
She  recovered.  The  following  is  the  account  she  gave  of  her 
sensations;  she  said,  "It  seemed  to  her  as  if  in  a  dream,  that  she 
was  really  dead;  yet  she  was  perfectly  conscious  of  all  that  hap- 
pened around  her.  She  distinctly  heard  her  friends  speaking  and 
lamenting  her  death  at  the  side  of  her  coffin.  She  felt  them  pull 
on  the  dead  clothes,  and  lay  her  in  it.  This  feeling  produced  a 
mental  anxiety  which  she  could  not  describe.  She  tried  to  cry 
out,  but  her  mind  was  without  power,  and  could  not  act  on  her 
body.  She  had  the  contradictory  feeling  as  if  she  were  in  her 
own  body,  and  not  in  it,  at  the  same  time.  It  was  equally  impossi- 
ble for  her  to  stretch  out  her  arm  or  open  her  eyes,  as  to  cry, 
although  she  continually  endeavoured  to  do  so.  The  internal 
anguish  of  her  mind  was  at  its  utmost  height  when  the  funeral 
hymns  began  to  be  sung,  and  when  the  lid  of  the  coffin  was 
about  to  be  nailed  on.  The  thought  that  she  was  to  be  buried 
alive  was  the  first  which  gave  activity  to  her  mind,  and  enabled 
it  to  operate  on  her  corporeal  frame." 

Where  the  ears  lose  their  capacity  of  being  acted  upon  by 
stimuli,  the  mind  by  its  operations  in  dreams,  becomes  a  source 
of  impressions  which  again  set  the  wheels  of  life  in  motion. 
There  is  an  account  published  by  Dr.  Arnold  in  his  observations 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          163 

upon  insanity,*  of  a  certain  John  Engelbreght  a  German,  who 
was  believed  to  be  dead,  and  who  was  evidently  resuscitated  by 
the  exercises  of  his  mind  upon  subjects  which  were  of  a  delight- 
ful and  stimulating  nature.  This  history  shall  be  taken  from 
Mr.  Engelbreght's  words.  "It  was  on  Thursday  noon  (says  he) 
about  12  o'clock  when  I  perceived  that  death  was  making  his 
approaches  upon  me  from  the  lower  parts  upwards,  insomuch 
that  my  whole  body  became  stiff.  I  had  no  feeling  left  in  my 
hands  and  feet,  neither  in  any  other  part  of  my  whole  body, 
nor  was  I  at  last  able  to  speak  or  see,  for  my  mouth  now  be- 
coming very  stiff,  I  was  no  longer  able  to  open  it,  nor  did  I 
feel  it  any  longer.  My  eyes  also  broke  in  my  head  in  such  a  man- 
ner that  I  distinctly  felt  it.  For  all  that,  I  understood  what  they 
said,  when  they  were  praying  by  me,  and  I  distinctly  heard  them 
say,  feel  his  legs,  how  stiff,  and  cold  they  have  become.  This  I 
heard  distinctly,  but  I  had  no  perception  of  their  touch.  I  heard 
the  watchman  cry  1 1  o'clock,  but  at  1 2  o'clock  my  hearing  left 
me.  After  relating  his  passage  from  the  body  to  heaven  with  the 
velocity  of  an  arrow  shot  from  a  cross  bow,  he  proceeds,  and 
says  that  as  he  was  twelve  hours  in  dying,  so  he  was  twelve  hours 
in  returning  to  life.  "As  I  died  (says  he)  from  beneath  up- 
wards, so  I  revived  again  the  contrary  way  from  above  to  be- 
neath, or  from  top  to  toe.  Being  conveyed  back  from  the  heav- 
enly glory,  I  began  to  hear  again  something  of  what  they  were 
praying  for  me,  in  the  same  room  with  me.  Thus  was  my  hear- 
ing, the  first  sense  I  recovered.  After  this  I  began  to  have  a  per- 
ception of  my  eyes,  so  that  by  little  and  little,  my  whole  body 
became  strong,  and  sprightly,  and  no  sooner  did  I  get  a  feeling 
of  my  legs  and  feet,  than  I  arose  and  stood  firm  upon  them  with 
a  firmness  I  had  never  enjoyed  before.  The  heavenly  joy  I  had 
experienced,  invigorated  me  to  such  a  degree,  that  people  were 
astonished  at  my  rapid,  and  almost  instantaneous  recovery." 

The  explanation,  I  have  given  of  the  cause  of  resuscitation  in 
this  man,  will  serve  to  refute  a  belief  in  a  supposed  migration 

*  Vol.  ii.  p.  298. 


1 64       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

of  the  soul  from  the  body  in  cases  of  apparent  death.  The  imagi- 
nation, it  is  true,  usually  conducts  the  whole  mind  to  the  abodes 
of  happy  or  miserable  spirits,  but  it  acts  here  in  the  same  way 
that  it  does  when  it  transports  it  in  common  dreams,  to  numerous 
and  distant  parts  of  the  world. 

There  is  nothing  supernatural  in  Mr.  Engelbreght  being  in- 
vigorated by  his  supposed  flight  to  heaven.  Pleasant  dreams  al- 
ways stimulate  and  strengthen  the  body,  while  dreams  which  are 
accompanied  with  distress,  or  labour  debilitate,  and  fatigue  it. 

LECTURE  III 

GENTLEMEN, 

Let  us  next  take  a  view  of  the  state  of  animal  life  in  the 
different  inhabitants  of  our  globe,  as  varied  by  the  circumstances 
of  civilization,  diet,  situation  and  climate. 

I.  In  the  Indians  of  the  northern  latitudes  of  America,  there 
is  often  a  defect  of  the  stimulus  of  aliment,  and  of  the  under- 
standing and  passions.  Their  vacant  countenances,  and  their  long 
and  disgusting  taciturnity,  are  the  effects  of  the  want  of  action 
in  their  brains  from  a  deficiency  of  ideas;  and  their  tranquillity 
under  all  the*  common  circumstances  of  irritation,  pleasure  or 
grief,  are  the  result  of  an  -absence  of  passion;  for  they  hold  it 
to  be  disgraceful  to  shew  any  outward  signs  of  anger,  joy,  or 
even  of  domestic  affection.  This  account  of  the  Indian  character, 
I  know  is  contrary  to  that  which  is  given  by  Rousseau,  and 
several  other  writers,  who  have  attempted  to  prove  that  man 
may  become  perfect  and  happy,  without  the  aids  of  civilization 
and  religion.  This  opinion  is  contradicted  by  the  experience  of 
all  ages,  and  is  rendered  ridiculous  by  the  facts  which  are  well 
ascertained  in  the  history  of  the  customs  and  habits  of  our 
American  savages.  In  a  cold  climate  they  are  the  most  miserable 
beings  upon  the  face  of  the  earth.  The  greatest  part  of  their 
time  is  spent  in  sleep,  or  under  the  alternate  influence  of  hunger 
and  gluttony.  They  moreover  indulge  in  vices  which  are  alike 
contrary  to  moral  and  physical  happiness.  It  is  in  consequence 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          165 

of  these  habits,  that  they  discover  so  early  the  marks  of  old  age, 
and  that  so  few  of  them  are  long-lived.  The  absence  and  diminu- 
tion of  many  of  the  stimuli  of  life  in  these  people  is  supplied  in 
part,  by  the  violent  exertions  with  which  they  hunt,  and  carry 
on  war,  and  by  the  extravagant  manner  with  which  they  after- 
wards celebrate  their  exploits,  in  their  savage  dances  and  songs. 

II.  In  the  inhabitants  of  the  torrid  regions  of  Africa,  there  is 
a  deficiency  of  labor;  for  the  earth  produces  spontaneously 
nearly  all  the  sustenance  they  require.  Their  understandings  and 
passions  are  moreover  in  a  torpid  state.  But  the  absence  of  bodily 
and  mental  stimuli  in  these  people,  is  amply  supplied  by  the  con- 
stant heat  of  the  sun,  by  the  profuse  use  of  spices  in  their  diet, 
and  by  the  passion  for  musical  sounds  which  so  universally 
characterises  the  African  nations. 

III.  In  Greenland  the  body  is  exposed  during  a  long  winter 
to  such  a  degree  of  cold  as  to  reduce  the  pulse  to  40,  or  50 
strokes  in  a  minute.  But  the  effects  of  this  cold  in  lessening  the 
quantity  of  life,  are  obviated  in  part  by  the  heat  of  close  stove 
rooms,  by  warm  clothing,  and  by  the  peculiar  nature  of  the  ali- 
ment of  the  Greenlanders,  which  consists  chiefly  of  animal  food, 
of  dried  fish,  and  of  whale  oil.  They  prefer  the  last  of  those 
articles  in  so  rancid  a  state,  that  it  imparts  a  foetor  to  their  per- 
spiration which,  Mr.  Crantz  says,  renders  even  their  churches 
offensive  to  strangers.  I  need  hardly  add,  that  a  diet  possessed  of 
such  diffusible  qualities,  cannot  fail  of  being  highly  stimulating. 
It  is  remarkable  that  the  food  of  all  the  northern  nations  of 
Europe  is  composed  of  stimulating  animal,  or  vegetable  matters, 
and  that  the  use  of  spiritous  liquors  is  universal  among  them. 

IV.  Let  us  next  turn  our  eyes  to  the  miserable  inhabitants 
of  those  eastern  countries  which  compose  the  Ottoman  empire. 
Here  we  behold  life  in  its  most  feeble  state,  not  only  from  the 
absence  of  physical,  but  of  other  stimuli  which  operate  upon  the 
inhabitants  of  other  parts  of  the  world.  Among  the  poor  people 
of  Turkey  there  is  a  general  deficiency  of  aliment.  Mr.  Volney 
in  his  travels  tells  us  "That  the  diet  of  the  Bedouins  seldom 
exceeds  six  ounces  a  day,  and  that  it  consists  of  six  or  seven  dates 


1 66       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

soaked  in  butter-milk,  and  afterwards  mixed  with  a  little  sweet 
milk,  or  curds." — Thfere  is  likewise  a  general  deficiency  among 
them  of  stimulus,  from  the  operations  of  the  mental  faculties; 
for  such  is  the  despotism  of  the  government  in  Turkey,  that  it 
weakens  not  only  the  understanding;  but  it  annihilates  all  that 
immense  source  of  stimuli  which  arises  from  the  exercise  of  the 
domestic  and  public  affections.  A  Turk  lives  wholly  to  himself. 
In  point  of  time,  he  occupies  only  the  moment  in  which  he 
exists;  for  his  futurity,  as  to  life  and  property,  belongs  altogether 
to  his  master.  Fear  is  the  reigning  principle  of  his  actions,  and 
hope  and  joy  seldom  add  a  single  pulsation  to  his  heart.  Tyranny 
even  imposes  a  restraint  upon  the  stimulus  which  arises  from 
conversation,  for  "They  speak  (says  Mr.  Volney)  with  a  slow 
feeble  voice,  as  if  the  lungs  wanted  strength  to  propel  air  enough 
through  the  glottis  to  form  distinct  articulate  sounds."  The  same 
traveller  adds,  that  "They  are  slow  in  all  their  motions,  that  their 
bodies  are  small,  that  they  have  small  evacuations,  and  that  their 
blood  is  so  destitute  of  ferocity,  that  nothing  but  the  greatest 
heat  can  preserve  its  fluidity."  The  deficiency  of  aliment,  and 
the  absence  of  mental  stimuli  in  these  people  is  supplied, 

1.  By  the  heat  of  their  climate. 

2.  By  their  passion  for  musical  sounds  and  fine  clothes,  and 

3.  By  their  general  use  of  coffee  and  opium. 

The  more  debilitated  the  body  is,  the  more  forcibly  these 
stimuli  act  upon  it.  Hence  according  to  Mr.  Volney,  the 
Bedouins,  whose  slender  diet  has  been  mentioned,  enjoy  good 
health;  for  this  consists  not  in  strength,  but  in  an  exact  propor- 
tion being  kept  up  between  the  excitability  of  the  body,  and 
the  number  and  force  of  the  stimuli  which  act  upon  it. 

V.  Many  of  the  observations  which  have  been  made  upon 
the  inhabitants  of  Africa,  and  of  the  Turkish  dominions,  apply 
to  the  inhabitants  of  China,  and  the  East  Indies.  They  want  in 
many  instances  the  stimulus  of  animal  food.  Their  minds  are 
moreover  in  a  state  too  languid  to  act  with  much  force  upon  their 
bodies.  The  absence  and  deficiency  of  these  stimuli  are  sup- 
plied by, 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES  167 

1.  The  heat  of  the  climate  in  the  southern  parts  of  those 
countries. 

2.  By  a  vegetable  diet  abounding  in  nourishment,  particularly 
rice  and  beans. 

3.  By  the  use  of  tea  in  China,  and  by  a  stimulating  coffee 
made  of  the  dried  and  toasted  feeds  of  the  datura  stramonium,  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  the  -Indian  coast.  Some  of  these  nations 
likewise  chew  stimulating  substances,  as  too  many  of  our  citizens 
do  tobacco. 

Among  the  poor  and  depressed  subjects  of  the  governments 
of  the  middle  and  southern  parts  of  Europe,  the  deficiency  of 
the  stimulus  of  wholesome  food,  of  clothing,  of  fuel,  and  of 
liberty,  is  supplied  in  some  countries  by  the  invigorating  in- 
fluence of  the  Christian  religion  upon  animal  life;  and  in  others, 
by  the  general  use  of  tea,  coffee,  garlic,  onions,  opium,  tobacco, 
malt  liquors,  and  ardent  spirits.  The  use  of  each  of  these  stimuli 
seems  to  be  regulated  by  the  circumstances  of  climate.  In  cold 
countries  where  the  earth  yields  its  increase  with  reluctance, 
and  where  vegetable  aliment  is  scarce,  the  want  of  the  stimulus 
of  distention  which  that  species  of  food  is  principally  calculated 
to  produce,  is  sought  for  in  that,  of  ardent  spirits.  To  the  south- 
ward of  40°  a  substitute  for  the  distention  from  mild  vegetable 
food  is  sought  for,  in  onions,  garlic  and  tobacco.  But  further,  a 
uniform  climate  calls  for  more  of  these  artificial  stimuli  than  a 
climate  that  is  exposed  to  the  alternate  action  of  heat  and  cold, 
winds  and  calms,  and  of  wet  and  dry  weather.  Savages  and  igno- 
rant people  likewise  require  more  of  them  than  persons  of  civi- 
lized manners,  and  cultivated  understandings.  It  would  seem  from 
these  facts  that  man  cannot  exist  without  sensation  of  some  kind, 
and  that  when  it  is  not  derived  from  natural  means,  it  will  always 
be  sought  for  in  such  as  are  artificial. 

In  no  part  of  the  human  species,  is  animal  life  in  a  more 
perfect  state  than  in  the  inhabitants  of  Great  Britain,*  and  the 
United  States  of  America.  With  all  the  natural  stimuli  that  have 

*  Haller's  Elementa  Physiologiae,  vol.  viii.  p.  2.  p.  107. 


i68       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

been  mentioned,  they  are  constantly  under  the  invigorating  in- 
fluence of  liberty.  There  is  an  indissoluble  union  between  moral, 
political  and  physical  happiness;  and  if  it  be  true,  that  elective 
and  representative  governments  are  most  favourable  to  individual, 
as  well  as  national  prosperity,  it  follows  of  course,  that  they  are 
most  favourable  to  animal  life.  But  this  opinion  does  not  rest  upon 
an  induction  derived  from  the  relation,  which  truths  upon  all 
subjects  bear  to  each  other.  Many  facts  prove,  animal  life  to 
exist  in  a  larger  quantity  and  for  a  longer  time,  in  the  enlight- 
ened and  happy  state  of  Connecticut,  in  which  republican  liberty 
has  existed  above  one  hundred  and  fifty  years,  than  in  any  other 
country  upon  the  surface  of  the  globe. 

It  remains  now  to  mention  certain  mental  stimuli  which  act 
nearly  alike  in  the  production  of  animal  life,  upon  the  individuals 
of  all  the  nations  in  the  world.  They  are, 

i.  The  desire  of  life.  This  principle  so  deeply,  and  universally 
implanted  in  human  nature,  acts  very  powerfully  in  supporting 
our  existence.  It  has  been  observed  to  prolong  life.  Sickly  travel- 
lers by  sea  and  land,  often  live  under  circumstances  of  the  great- 
est weakness,  till  they  reach  their  native  country,  and  then  expire 
in  the  bosom  of  their  friends.  This  desire  of  life  often  turns  the 
scale  in  favor  of  a  recovery  in  acute  diseases.  Its  influence  will 
appear,  from  the  difference  in  the  periods  in  which  death  was 
induced  in  two  persons,  who  were  actuated  by  opposite  passions 
with  respect  to  life.  Atticus,  we  are  told,  died  of  voluntary  ab- 
stinence from  food  in  five  days.  In  Sir  William  Hamilton's  ac- 
count of  the  earthquake  at  Calabria,  we  read  of  a  girl  who  lived 
eleven  days  without  food,  before  she  expired.  In  the  former 
case,  life  was  shortened  by  an  aversion  from  it;  in  the  latter,  it 
was  protracted  by  the  desire  af  it.  The  late  Mr.  Brissot  in  his 
visit  to  this  city,  informed  me  that  the  application  of  animal 
magnetism  (in  which  he  was  a  believer)  had  in  no  instance  cured 
a  disease  in  a  West  India  slave.  Perhaps  it  was  rendered  inert  by 
its  not  being  accompanied  by  a  strong  desire  of  life;  for  this 
principle  exists  in  a  more  feeble  state  in  slaves  than  in  freemen. 
It  is  possible  likewise  the  wills  and  imaginations  of  these  degraded 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          169 

people  may  have  become  so  paralytic  by  slavery,  as  to  be  in- 
capable of  being  excited  by  the  impression  of  this  fanciful 
remedy. 

2.  The  love  of  money  sets  the  whole  animal  machine  in 
motion.  Hearts  which  are  insensible  to  the  stimuli  of  religion, 
patriotism,  love,  and  even  of  the  domestic  affections,  are  excited 
into  action  by  this  passion.  The  city  of  Philadelphia  between 
the  loth  and  ijth  of  August  1791,  will  long  be  remembered 
by  contemplative  men,  for  having  furnished  the  most  extraordi- 
nary proofs  of  the  stimulus  of  the  love  of  money  upon  the  human 
body.  A  new  scene  of  speculation  was  produced  at  that  time  by 
the  scrip  of  the  bank  of  the  United  States.  It  excited  febrile 
diseases  in  three  persons  who  became  my  patients.  In  one  of 
them,  the  acquisition  of  twelve  thousand  dollars  in  a  few  min- 
utes by  a  lucky  sale,  brought  on  madness  which  terminated  in 
death  in  a  few  days.*  The  whole  city  felt  the  impulse  of  this 
paroxysm  of  avarice.  The  slow  and  ordinary  means  of  earning 
money  were  deserted,  and  men  of  every  profession  and  trade, 
were  seen  in  all  our  streets  hastening  to  the  coffee  house,  where 
the  agitation  of  countenance,  and  the  desultory  manners,  of  all 
the  persons  who  were  interested  in  this  species  of  gaming,  ex- 
hibited a  truer  picture  of  a  bedlam,  than  of  a  place  appropriated 
to  the  transaction  of  mercantile  business.  But  further,  the  love 
of  money  discovers  its  stimulus  upon  the  body  in  a  peculiar 
manner  in  the  games  of  cards  and  dice.  I  have  heard  of  a  gentle- 
man in  Virginia  who  passed  two  whole  days  and  nights  in  suc- 
cession at  a  card  table,  and  it  is  related  in  the  life  of  a  noted 
gamester  in  Ireland,  that  when  he  was  so  ill  as  to  be  unable  to  rise 
from  his  chair,  he  would  suddenly  revive  when  brought  to  the 
hazard  table,  by  hearing  the  rattling  of  the  dice. 

3.  Public  amusements  of  all  kinds,  such  as  a  horse  race,  a 
cockpit,  a  chase,  the  theatre,  the  circus,  masquerades,  public 
dinners  and  tea  parties,  all  exert  an  artificial  stimulus  upon  the 

*  Dr.  Mead  relates  upon  the  authority  of  Dr.  Hales,  that  more  of  the 
successful  speculators  in  the  South  Sea  Scheme  of  1720  became  insane, 
than  of  those  who  had  been  ruined  by  it. 


1 7o       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

system,  and  thus  supply  the  defect  of  the  rational  exercises  of 
the  mind. 

4.  The  love  of  dress  is  not  confined  in  its  stimulating  opera- 
tion to  persons  in  health.  It  acts  perceptibly  in  some  cases  upon 
invalids.  I  have  heard  of  a  gentleman  in  South  Carolina,  who 
always  relieved  himself  of  a  fit  of  low  spirits  by  changing  his 
dress;  and  I  believe  there  are  few  people  who  do  not  feel  them- 
selves enlivened,  by  putting  on  a  new  suit  of  clothes. 

5.  Novelty  is  an  immense  source  of  agreeable  stimuli.  Com- 
panions, studies,  pleasures,  modes  of  business,  prospects,  and 
situations  with  respect  to  town,  and  country,  or  to  different 
countries,  that  are  new,  all  exert  an  invigorating  influence  upon 
health  and  life. 

6.  The  love  of  fame  acts  in  various  ways;  but  its  stimulus  is 
most  sensible  and  durable  in  military  life.  It  counteracts  in  many 
instances  the  debilitating  effects  of  hunger,  cold  and  labor.  It 
has  sometimes  done  more,  by  removing  the  weakness  which  is 
connected  with  many  diseases.  In  several  instances  it  has  assisted 
the  hardships  of  a  camp  life,  in  curing  pulmonary  consump- 
tion. 

7.  The  love  of  country  is  a  deep  seated  principle  of  action 
in  the  human  breast.  Its  stimulus  is  sometimes  so  excessive,  as  to 
induce  disease  in  persons  who  recently  migrate,  and  settle  in 
foreign  countries. — It  appears  in  various  forms;  but  exists  most 
frequently  in  the  solicitude,  labors,  attachments,  and  hatred  of 
party  spirit.  All  these  act  forcibly  in  supporting  animal  life.  It 
is  because  newspapers  are  supposed  to  contain  the  measure  of 
the  happiness,  or  misery  of  our  country,  that  they  are  so  in- 
teresting to  all  classes  of  people.  Those  vehicles  of  intelligence, 
and  of  public  pleasure  or  pain,  are  frequently  desired  with  the 
impatience  of  a  meal,  and  they  often  produce  the  same  stimu- 
lating effects  upon  the  body. 

8.  The  different  religions  of  the  world,  by  the  activity  they 
excite  in  the  mind,  have  a  sensible  influence  upon  human  life. 
Atheism  is  the  worst  of  sedatives  to  the  understanding,  and  pas- 
sions. It  is  the  abstraction  of  thought  from  the  most  sublime, 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          171 

and  of  love,  from  the  most  perfect  of  all  possible  objects.  Man 
is  as  naturally  a  religious,  as  he  is  a  social,  and  domestic  animal; 
and  the  same  violence  is  done  to  his  mental  faculties,  by  robbing 
him  of  a  belief  in  a  God,  that  is  done,  by  dooming  him  to  live 
in  a  cell,  deprived  of  the  objects  and  pleasures  of  social  and 
domestic  life.  The  necessary  and  immutable  connection  between 
the  texture  of  the  human  mind,  and  the  worship  of  an  object 
of  some  kind,  has  lately  been  demonstrated  by  the  atheists  of 
Europe,  who  after  rejecting  the  true  God,  have  instituted  the 
worship  of  nature,  of  fortune,  and  of  human  reason;  and  in 
some  instances,  with  ceremonies  of  the  most  expensive  and  splen- 
did kind.  Religions  are  friendly  to  animal  life,  in  proportion  as 
they  elevate  the  understanding,  and  act  upon  the  passions  of  hope 
and  love.  It  will  readily  occur  to  you,  that  Christianity  when 
believed,  and  obeyed,  according  to  its  original  consistency  with 
itself,  and  with  the  divine  attributes,  is  more  calculated  to  pro- 
duce those  effects,  than  any  other  religion  in  the  world. — Such 
is  the  salutary  operation  of  its  doctrines,  and  precepts  upon 
health  and  life,  that  if  its  divine  authority  rested  upon  no  other 
argument,  this  alone  would  be  sufficient  to  recommend  it  to  our 
belief.  How  long  mankind  may  continue  to  prefer  substituted 
pursuits  and  pleasures,  to  this  invigorating  stimulus,  is  uncertain; 
but  the  time  we  are  assured  will  come,  when  the  understanding 
shall  be  elevated  from  its  present  inferior  objects,  and  the  luxated 
passions  be  reduced  to  their  original  order. — This  change  in  the 
mind  of  man,  I  believe,  will  be  effected  only  by  the  influence 
of  the  Christian  religion,  after  all  the  efforts  of  human  reason 
to  produce  it,  by  means  of  civilization,  philosophy,  liberty,  and 
government,  have  been  exhausted  to  no  purpose. 

Thus  far,  gentlemen,  we  have  considered  animal  life  as  it 
respects  the  human  species;  but  the  principles  I  am  endeavouring 
to  establish,  require  that  we  should  take  a  view  of  it  in  animals 
of  every  species,  in  all  of  which  we  shall  find  it  depends  upon 
the  same  causes,  as  in  the  human  body. 

And  here  I  shall  begin  by  remarking,  that  if  we  should  dis- 
cover the  stimuli  which  support  life  in  certain  animals,  to  be 


1 72       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

fewer  in  number,  or  weaker  in  force  than  those  which  support 
it  in  our  species;  we  must  resolve  it  into  that  attribute  of  the 
Deity  which  seems  to  have  delighted  in  variety  in  all  his  works. 
The  following  observations  apply  more  or  less,  to  all  the 
animals  upon  our  globe. 

1.  They  all  possess  either  hearts,  lungs,  brains,  nerves,  or 
muscular  fibres.  It  is  as  yet  a  controversy  among  naturalists 
whether  animal  life  can  exist  without  a  brain;  but  no  one  has 
denied,  muscular  fibres,  and  of  course  contractility,  or  excita- 
bility to  belong  to  animal  life  in  all  its  shapes. 

2.  They  all  require  more  or  less  air  for  their  existence.  Even 
the  snail  inhales  it  for  seven  months  under  ground,  through  a 
pellicle  which  it  weaves  out  of  slime,  as  a  covering  for  its  body. 
If  this  pellicle  at  any  time  become  too  thick  to  admit  the  air; 
the  snail  opens  a  passage  in  it  for  that  purpose/Now  air  we 
know  acts  powerfully  in  supporting  animal  life. 

3.  Many  of  them  possess  heat  equal  to  that  of  the  human 
body.  Birds  possess  several  degrees  beyond  it.  Now  heat,  it  was 
said  formerly,  acts  with  great  force,  in  the  production  of  animal 
life. 

4.  They  all  feed  upon  substances  more  or  less  stimulating  to 
their  bodies.  Even  water  itself,  chemistry  has  taught  us,  affords 
an  aliment  not  only  stimulating,  but  nourishing  to  many  ani- 
mals. 

5.  Many  of  them  possess  senses,  more  acute  and  excitable, 
than  the  same  organs  in  the  human  species.  These  expose  surfaces 
for  the  action  of  external  impressions,  that  supply  the  absence, 
or  deficiency  of  mental  faculties. 

6.  Such  of  them  as  are  devoid  of  sensibility,  possess  an  un- 
common portion  of  contractility,  or  simple  excitability.  This  is 
most  evident  in  the  Polypus.  When  cut  to  pieces,  it  appears  to 
feel  little  or  no  pain. 

7.  They  all  possess  locomotive  powers  in  a  greater  or  less 
degree,  and  of  course  are  acted  upon  by  the  stimulus  of  mus- 
cular motion. 

8.  Most  of  them  appear  to  feel  a  stimulus,  from  the  gratifica- 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          173 

tion  of  their  appetites  for  food,  and  for  venereal  pleasures,  far 
more  powerful  than  that  which  is  felt  by  our  species  from  the 
same  causes.  I  shall  hereafter  mention  some  facts  from  Spalanzani 
upon  the  subject  of  generation,  that  will  prove  the  stimulus,  from 
venery,  to  be  strongest  in  those  animals,  in  which  other  stimuli 
act  with  the  least  force.  Thus  the  male  frog  during  its  long  con- 
nection with  its  female,  suffers  its  limbs  to  be  amputated,  with- 
out discovering  the  least  mark  of  pain,  and  without  relaxing  its 
hold  of  the  object  of  its  embraces. 

9.  In  many  animals  we  behold  evident  marks  of  understand- 
ing, and  passion.  The  elephant,  the  fox  and  the  ant,  exhibit  strong 
proofs  of  thought;  and  where  is  the  school  boy  that  cannot  bear 
testimony  to  the  anger  of  the  bee,  and  the  wasp? 

10.  But  what  shall  we  say  of  those  animals,  which  pass  long 
winters  in  a  state  in  which  there  is  an  apparent  absence  of  the 
stimuli  of  heat,  exercise  and  the  motion  of  the  blood.  Life  in  these 
animals  is  probably  supported, 

1 .  By  such  an  accumulation  of  excitability,  3s  to  yield  to  im- 
pressions, which  to  us  are  imperceptible. 

2.  By  the  stimulus  of  aliment  in  a  state  of  digestion  in  the 
stomach,  or  by  the  stimulus  of  aliment  restrained  from  digestion 
by  means  of  cold;  for  Mr.  John  Hunter  has  proved  by  an  ex- 
periment on  a  frog,  that  cold  below  a  certain  degree,  checks  that 
animal  process. 

3.  By  the  constant  action  of  air  upon  their  bodies. 

It  is  possible  life  may  exist  in  these  animals,  during  their 
hybernation,  in  the  total  absence  of  impression  and  motion  of 
every  kind.  This  may  be  the  case  where  the  torpor  from  cold, 
has  been  suddenly  brought  upon  their  bodies.  Excitability  here, 
is  in  an  accumulated,  but  quiescent  state. 

1 1.  It  remains  only  under  this  head  to  inquire;  in  what  man- 
ner is  life  supported  in  those  animals  which  live  in  a  cold  element, 
and  whose  blood  is  sometimes  but  a  little  above  the  freezing 
point?  It  will  be  a  sufficient  answer  to  this  question  to  remark, 
that  heat  and  cold  are  relative  terms,  and  that  different  animals 
according  to  their  organization,  require  very  different  degrees 


i74       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

of  heat  for  their  existence.  Thirty-two  degrees  of  it  are  probably 
as  stimulating  to  some  of  these  cold  blooded  animals  (as  they 
are  called)  as  70°,  or  80°  are  to  the  human  body. 

It  might  afford  additional  support  to  the  doctrine  of  animal 
life,  which  I  have  delivered,  to  point  out  the  manner  in  which 
life  and  growth  are  produced  in  vegetables  of  all  kinds.  But  this 
subject  belongs  to  the  professor  of  botany,  and  natural  history,* 
who  is  amply  qualified  to  do  it  justice.  I  shall  only  remark,  that 
vegetable  life  is  as  much  the  offspring  of  stimuli  as  animal,  and 
that  skill  in  agriculture  consists  chiefly  in  the  proper  application 
of  them.  The  seed  of  a  plant,  like  an  animal  body,  has  no  prin- 
ciple of  life  within  itself.  If  preserved  for  years  in  a  drawer,  or 
in  earth  below  the  stimulating  influence  of  heat,  air  and  water, 
it  discovers  no  sign  of  vegetation.  It  grows,  like  an  animal,  only 
in  consequence  of  stimuli  acting  upon  its  capacity  of  life. 

From  a  review  of  what  has  been  said  of  animal  life  in  all  its 
numerous  forms  and  modifications;  we  see  that  it  is  as  much  an 
effect  of  impressions  upon  a  peculiar  species  of  matter,  as  sound 
is  of  the  stroke  of  a  hammer  upon  a  bell,  or  music,  of  the  motion 
of  the  bow  upon  the  strings  of  a  violin.  I  exclude  therefore  the 
intelligent  principle  of  Whytt,  the  medical  mind  of  Stahl,  the 
healing  powers  of  Cullen,  and  the  vital  principle  of  John  Hunter, 
as  much  from  the  body,  as  I  do  an  intelligent  principle  from  air, 
fire,  and  water. 

It  is  no  uncommon  thing  for  the  simplicity  of  causes,  to  be 
lost  in  the  magnitude  of  their  effects.  By  contemplating  the 
wonderful  functions  of  life,  we  have  strangely  overlooked  the 
numerous  and  obscure  circumstances  which  produce  it.  Thus 
the  humble  but  true  origin  of  power  in  the  people,  is  often 
forgotten  in  the  splendor  and  pride  of  governments.  It  is  not 
necessary  to  be  acquainted  with  the  precise  nature  of  that  form 
of  matter,  which  is  capable  of  producing  life,  from  impressions 
made  upon  it.  It  is  sufficient  for  our  purpose,  to  know  the  fact. 
It  is  immaterial  moreover  whether  this  matter  derive  its  power 

*  Dr.  Barton. 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          175 

of  being  acted  upon  wholly  from  the  brain,  or  whether  it  be  in 
part  inherent  in  animal  fibres.  The  inferences  are  the  same  in 
favour  of  life  being  the  effect  of  stimuli,  and  of  its  being  as 
truly  mechanical,  as  the  movements  of  a  clock  from  the  pressure 
of  its  weights,  or  the  passage  of  a  ship  in  the  water,  from  the 
impulse  of  winds,  and  tide. 

The  infinity  of  effects  from  similar  causes,  has  often  been 
taken  notice  of  in  the  works  of  the  Creator.  It  would  seem  as 
if  they  had  all  been  made  after  one  pattern.  The  late  discovery 
of  the  cause  of  combustion,  has  thrown  great  light  upon  our 
subject.  Wood  and  coal  are  no  longer  believed  to  contain  a 
principle  of  fire.  The  heat  and  flames  they  emit,  are  derived  from 
an  agent  altogether  external  to  them.  They  are  produced  by  a 
matter  which  is  absorbed  from  the  air,  by  means  of  its  decomposi- 
tion. This  matter  acts  upon  the  predisposition  of  the  fuel  to 
receive  it,  in  the  same  way  that  stimuli  act  upon  the  human 
body.  The  two  agents  differ  only  in  their  effects.  The  former 
produces  the  destruction  of  the  bodies  upon  which  it  acts;  while 
the  latter  excite  the  more  gentle,  and  durable  motions  of  life. 
Common  language  in  expressing  these  effects  is  correct,  as  far 
as  it  relates  to  their  cause.  We  speak  of  a  coal  of  fire  being  alive, 
and  of  the  flcmie  of  life. 

The  causes  of  life  which  I  have  delivered,  will  receive  con- 
siderable support,  by  contrasting  them  with  the  causes  of  death. 
This  catastrophe  of  the  body  consists  in  such  a  change  induced 
on  it  by  disease,  or  old  age,  as  to  prevent  its  exhibiting  the 
phenomena  of  life.  It  is  brought  on, 

1.  By  the  abstraction  of  all  the  stimuli  which  support  life. 
Death,  from  this  cause,  is  produced  by  the  same  mechanical 
means  that  the  emission  of  sound  from  a  violin  is  prevented  by 
the  abstraction  of  the  bow  from  its  strings. 

2.  By  the  excessive  force  of  stimuli  of  all  kinds.  No  more 
occurs  here  than  happens  from  too  much  pressure  upon  the 
strings  of  a  violin  preventing  its  emitting  musical  tones. 

3.  By  too  much  relaxation,  or  too  weak  a  texture  of  the  matter 
which  composes  the  human  body.  No  more  occurs  here  than  is 


176       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

observed  in  the  extinction  of  sound  by  the  total  relaxation,  or 
slender  combination  of  the  strings  of  a  violin. 

4.  By  an  error  in  the  place  of  certain  fluid,  or  solid  parts 
of  the  body.  No  more  occurs  here,  than  would  happen  from 
fixing  the  strings  of  a  violin  upon  its  body,  instead  of  elevating 
them  upon  its  bridge. 

5.  By  the  action  of  poisonous  exhalations,  or  of  certain  fluids 
vitiated  in  the  body,  upon  parts  which  emit  most  forcibly  the 
motions  of  life.  No  more  happens  here  than  occurs  from  envelop- 
ing the  strings  of  a  violin  in  a  piece  of  wax. 

6.  By  the  solution  of  continuity  by  means  of  wounds  in 
solid  parts  of  the  body.  No  more  occurs  in  death  from  this  cause, 
than  takes  place  when  the  emission  of  sound  from  a  violin  is 
prevented  by  a  rupture  of  its  strings. 

7.  Death  is  produced  by  a  preternatural  rigidity,  and  in  some 
instances  by  an  ossification  of  the  solid  parts  of  the  body  in  old 
age;  in  consequence  of  which  they  are  incapable  of  receiving  and 
emitting  the  motions  of  life.  No  more  occurs  here",  than  would 
happen  if  a  stick,  or  pipe-stem  were  placed  in  the  room  of 
catgut,  upon  the  bridges  of  the  violin.  But  death  may  take  place 
in  old  age  without  a  change  in  the  texture  of  animal  matter,  from 
the  stimuli  of  life  losing  their  effect  by  repetition,  just  as  opium 
from  the  same  cause,  ceases  to  produce  its  usual  effects  upon  the 
body. 

Should  it  be  asked,  what  is  that  peculiar  organization  of 
matter,  which  enables  it  to  emit  life,  when  acted  upon  by  stimuli, 
I  answer,  I  do  not  know.  The  great  Creator  has  kindly  estab- 
lished a  witness  of  his  unsearchable  wisdom  in  every  part  of  his 
works,  in  order  to  prevent  our  forgetting  him,  in  the  successful 
exercises  of  our  reason.  Mohammed  once  said  "that  he  should 
believe  himself  to  be  a  God,  if  he  could  bring  down  rain  from 
the  clouds,  or  give  life  to  an  animal."  It  belongs  exclusively  to 
the  true  God  to  endow  matter  with  those  singular  properties, 
which  enable  it  under  certain  circumstances,  to  exhibit  the  ap- 
pearances of  life. 

I  cannot  conclude  this  subject,  without  taking  notice  of  its 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          177 

extensive  application  to  medicine,  metaphysics,  theology  and 
morals. 

The  doctrine  of  animal  life  which  has  been  taught,  exhibits 
in  the 

First  place,  a  new  view  of  the  nervous  system,  by  discovering 
its  origin  in  the  extremities  of  the  nerves  on  which  impressions 
are  made,  and  its  termination  in  the  brain.  This  idea  is  extended 
in  an  ingenious  manner  by  Mr.  Valli  in  his  treatise  upon  animal 
electricity. 

2.  It  discovers  to  us  the  true  means  of  promoting  health  and 
longevity,  by  proportioning  the  number  and  force  of  stimuli  to 
the  age,  climate,  situation,  habits  and  temperament  of  the  human 
body. 

3.  It  leads  us  to  a  knowledge  of  the  causes  of  all  diseases. 
These  consist  in  excessive,  or  preternatural  excitement  in  the 
whole,  or  a  part  of  the  human  body,  accompanied  generally  with 
irregular  motions,  and  induced  by  natural,  or  artificial  stimuli. 
The  latter  have  been  called  very  properly  by  Mr.  Hunter  irri- 
tants.  The   occasional   absence    of   motion   in   acute    diseases, 
is  the  effect  only  of  the   excess  of  impetus  in  their  remote 
causes. 

4.  It  discovers  to  us  that  the  cure  of  all  diseases  depends 
simply  upon  the  abstraction  of  stimuli  from  the  whole,  or  from 
a  part  of  the  body,  when  the  motions  excited  by  them,  are  in 
excess;  and  in  the  increase  of  their  number  and  force,  when 
motions  are  of  a  moderate  nature.  For  the  former  purpose,  we 
employ  a  class  of  medicines  known  by  the  name  of  sedatives. 
For  the  latter,  we  make  use  of  stimulants.  Under  these  two  ex- 
tensive heads,  are  included  all  the  numerous  articles  of  the 
Materia  Medica. 

5.  It  enables  us  to  reject  the  doctrine  of  innate  ideas,  and  to 
ascribe  all  our  knowledge  of  sensible  objects  to  impressions  act- 
ing upon  an  innate  capacity  to  receive  ideas.  Were  it  possible 
for  a  child  to  grow  up  to  manhood  without  the  use  of  any  of  its 
senses,  it  would  not  possess  a  single  idea  of  a  material  object; 
and  as  all  human  knowledge  is  compounded  of  simple  ideas,  this 


i78       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

person  would  be  as  destitute  of  knowledge  of  every  kind,  as  the 
grossest  portion  of  vegetable,  or  fossil  matter. 

6.  The  account  which  has  been  given  of  animal  life,  fur- 
nishes a  striking  illustration  of  the  origin  of  human  actions,  by 
the  impression  of  motives  upon  the  will.  As  well  might  we  admit 
an  inherent  principle  of  life  in  animal  matter,  as  a  self  determin- 
ing power  in  this  faculty  of  the  mind.  Motives  are  necessary  not 
only  to  constitute  its  freedom,  but  its  essence;  for  without  them, 
there  could  be  no  more  a  will  than  there  could  be  vision  without 
light,  or  hearing  without  sound.  It  is  true,  they  are  often  so 
obscure  as  not  to  be  perceived;  and  they  sometimes  become  in- 
sensible from  habit,  but  the  same  things  have  been  remarked  in 
the  operation  of  stimuli;  and  yet  we  do  not  upon  this  account 
deny  their  agency  in  producing  animal  life.  In  thus  deciding  in 
favor  of  the  necessity  of  motives,  to  produce  actions,  I  cannot 
help  bearing  a  testimony  against  the  gloomy  misapplication  of 
this  doctrine  by  some  modern  writers.  When  properly  under- 
stood, it  is  calculated  to  produce  the  most  comfortable  views  of 
the  divine  government,  and  the  most  beneficial  effects  upon 
morals,  and  human  happiness. 

7.  There  are  errors  of  an  impious  nature,  which  sometimes 
obtain  a  currency,  from  being  disguised  by  innocent  names. 
The  doctrine  of  animal  life  that  has  been  delivered,  is  directly 
opposed  to  an  error  of  this  kind,  which  has  had  the  most  bane- 
ful influence  upon  morals  and  religion.  To  suppose  a  principle 
to  reside  necessarily,  and  constantly  in  the  human  body,  which 
acted  independently  of  external  circumstances,  is  to  ascribe  to  it 
an  attribute,  which  I  shall  not  connect,  even  in  language,  with 
the  creature  man.  Self  existence  belongs  only  to  God. 

The  best  criterion  of  the  truth  of  a  philosophical  opinion,  is 
its  tendency  to  produce  exalted  ideas,  of  the  Divine  Being,  and 
humble  views  of  ourselves.  The  doctrine  of  animal  life  which 
has  been  delivered,  is  calculated  to  produce  these  effects  in  an 
eminent  degree,  for 

8.  It  does  homage  to  the  Supreme  Being,  as  the  governor  of 
the  universe,  and  establishes  the  certainty  of  his  universal,  and 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES  179 

particular  providence.  Admit  a  principle  of  life  in  the  human 
body,  and  we  open  a  door  for  the  restoration  of  the  old  Epi- 
curean or  atheistical  philosophy,  which  supposed  the  world  to 
be  governed  by  a  principle  called  nature,  and  which  was  believed 
to  be  inherent  in  every  kind  of  matter.  The  doctrine  I  have 
taught,  cuts  the  sinews  of  this  error;  for  by  rendering  the  con- 
tinuance of  animal  life,  no  less  than  its  commencement,  the  effect 
of  the  constant  operation  of  divine  power  and  goodness,  it  leads 
us  to  believe  that  the  whole  creation  is  supported  in  the  same 
manner. 

9.  The  view  that  has  been  given  of  the  dependent  state  of 
man  for  the  blessing  of  life,  leads  us  to  contemplate  with  very 
opposite  and  inexpressible  feelings,  the  sublime  idea  which  is 
given  of  the  Deity  in  the  scriptures,  as  possessing  life  "within 
himself."  This  divine  prerogative  has  never  been  imparted  but  to 
one  being,  and  that  is,  the  Son  of  God.  This  appears  from  the 
following  declaration.  "For  as  the  Father  hath  life  in  himself, 
so  hath  he  given  to  the  Son  to  have  life  within  himself"  *  To 
his  plenitude  of  independent  life,  we  are  to  ascribe  his  being 
called  the  "life  of  the  world,"  "the  prince  of  life,"  and  "life" 
itself,  in  the  New  Testament.  These  divine  epithets  which  are 
very  properly,  founded  upon  the  manner  of  our  Saviour's  ex- 
istence, exalt  him  infinitely  above  simple  humanity,  and  establish 
his  divine  nature  upon  the  basis  of  reason,  as  well  as  revelation. 

10.  We  have  heard  that  some  of  the  stimuli  which  produce 
animal  life,  are  derived  from  the  moral,  and  physical  evils  of  our 
world.  From  beholding  these  instruments  of  death  thus  con- 
verted by  divine  skill  into  the  means  of  life,  we  are  led  to  believe 
goodness  to  be  the  supreme  attribute  of  the  Deity,  and  that  it 
will  appear  finally  to  predominate  in  all  his  works. 

n.  The  doctrine  which  has  been  delivered,  is  calculated  to 
humble  the  pride  of  man;  by  teaching  him  his  constant  depend- 
ence upon  his  Maker  for  his  existence,  and  that  he  has  no  pre- 
eminence in  his  tenure  of  it,  over  the  meanest  insect  that  flutters 

*  John  v.  verse  26. 


i8o       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

in  the  air,  or  the  humblest  plant  that  grows  upon  the  earth.  What 
an  inspired  writer  says  of  the  innumerable  animals  which  inhabit 
the  ocean,  may  with  equal  propriety  be  said  of  the  whole  human 
race.  "Thou  sendest  forth  thy  spirit,  and  they  are  created.  Thou 
takest  away  their  breath — they  die,  and  return  to  their  dust." 

12.  Melancholy  indeed  would  have  been  the  issue  of  all  our 
inquiries,  did  we  take  a  final  leave  of  the  human  body  in  its 
state  of  decomposition  in  the  grave.  Revelation  furnishes  us  with 
an  elevating,  and  comforable  assurance  that  this  will  not  be  the 
case.  The  precise  manner  of  its  re-organizatioft,  and  the  new 
means  of  its  future  existence,  are  unknown  to  us.  It  is  sufficient 
to  believe,  the  event  will  take  place,  and  that  after  it,  the  soul 
and  body  of  man  will  be  exalted  in  one  respect,  to  an  equality 
with  their  Creator.  They  will  be  immortal. 

Here,  gentlemen,  we  close  the  history  of  animal  life.  I  feel 
as  if  I  had  waded  across  a  rapid  and  dangerous  stream.  Whether 
I  have  gained  the  opposite  shore  with  my  head  clean,  or  covered 
with  mud  and  weeds,  I  leave  wholly  to  your  determination. 


THE     INFLUENCE     OF 

PHYSICAL     CAUSES     UPON 

THE     MORAL     FACULTY 


BY  THE  moral  faculty  I  mean  a  capacity  in  the  human  mind  of 
distinguishing  and  choosing  good  and  evil,  or,  in  other  words, 
virtue  and  vice.  It  is  a  native  principle,  and  though  it  be  capable 
of  improvement  by  experience  and  reflection,  it  is  not  derived 
from  either  of  them.  St.  Paul  and  Cicero  give  us  the  most  perfect 
account  of  it  that  is  to  be  found  in  modern  or  ancient  authors. 
"For  when  the  Gentiles  (says  St.  Paul,)  which  have  not  the  law, 
do  by  nature  the  things  contained  in  the  law,  these,  having  not 
the  law,  are  a  law  unto  themselves;  which  show  the  works  of  the 
law  written  in  their  hearts,  their  consciences  also,  bearing  wit- 
ness, and  their  thoughts  the  mean  while  accusing,  or  else  ex- 
cusing, another."  ' 

The  words  of  Cicero  are  as  follow:  "Est  igitur  haec,  judices, 
non  scripta,  sed  nata  lex,  quam  non  didicimus,  accepimus,  legimus, 
verum  ex  natura  ipsa  arripuimus,  hausimus,  expressimus,  ad  quam 
non  docti,  sed  facti,  non  instituti,  sed  imbuti  surnus."  f  This 
faculty  is  often  confounded  with  conscience,  which  is  a  distinct 
and  independent  capacity  of  the  mind.  This  is  evident  from  the 
passage  quoted  from  the  writings  of  St.  Paul,  in  which  con- 
science is  said  to  be  the  witness  that  accuses  or  excuses  us,  of  a 
breach  of  the  law  written  in  our  hearts.  The  moral  faculty  is 
what  the  schoolmen  call  the  "regula  regulans;"  the  conscience 
is  their  "regula  regulata;"  or,  to  speak  in  more  modern  terms, 
the  moral  faculty  performs  the  office  of  a  lawgiver,  while  the 

*  Rom.  i.  14,  15.  t  Oratio  pro  Milone. 

181 


1 82       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

business  of  conscience  is  to  perform  the  duty  of  a  judge.  The 
moral  faculty  is  to  the  conscience,  what  taste  is  to  the,  judgment, 
and  sensation  to  perception.  It  is  quick  in  its  operations,  and  like 
the  sensitive  plant,  acts  without  reflection,  while  conscience  fol- 
lows with  deliberate  steps,  and  measures  all  her  actions  by  the 
unerring  square  of  right  and  wrong.  The  moral  faculty  exercises 
itself  upon  the  actions  of  others.  It  approves,  even  in  books,  of 
the  virtues  of  a  Trajan,  and  disapproves  of  the  vices  of  a  Marius, 
while  conscience  confines  its  operations  only  to  its  own  actions. 
These  two  capacities  of  the  mind  are  generally  in  an  exact  ratio 
to  each  other,  but  they  sometimes  exist  in  different  degrees  in 
the  same  person.  Hence  we  often  find  conscience  in  its  full 
vigour,  with  a  diminished  tone,  or  total  absence  of  the  moral 
faculty. 

It  has  long  been  a  question  among  metaphysicians,  whether 
the  conscience  be  seated  in  the  will  or  in  the  understanding.  The 
controversy  can  only  be  settled  by  admitting  the  will  to  be  the 
seat  of  the  moral  faculty,  and  the'  understanding  to  be  the  seat 
of  the  conscience.  The  mysterious  nature  of  the  union  of  those 
two  moral  principles  with  the  will  and  understanding  is  a  subject 
foreign  to  the  business  of  the  present  inquiry. 

As  I  consider  virtue  and  vice  to  consist  in  action,  and  not  in 
opinion,  and  as  this  action  has  its  seat  in  the  itf/7/,  and  not  in  the 
conscience,  I  shall  confine  my  inquiries  chiefly  to  the  influence 
of  physical  causes  upon  that  moral  power  of  the  mind,  which  is 
connected  with  volition,  although  many  of  these  causes  act  like- 
wise upon  the  conscience,  as  I  shall  show  hereafter.  The  state 
of  the  moral  faculty  is  visible  in  actions,  which  affect  the  well- 
being  of  society.  The  state  of  the  conscience  is  invisible,  and 
therefore  removed  beyond  our  investigation. 

The  moral  faculty  has  received  different  names  from  differ- 
ent authors.  It  is  the  "moral  sense"  of  Dr.  Hutchison;  "the  sym- 
pathy" of  Dr.  Adam  Smith;  the  "moral  instinct"  of  Rousseau; 
and  "the  light  that  lighteth  every  man  that  cometh  into  the 
world"  of  St.  John.  I  have  adopted  the  term  of  moral  faculty 
from  Dr.  Beattie,  because  I  conceive  it  conveys,  with  the  most 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          183 

perspicuity,  the  idea  of  a  capacity  in  the  mind  of  choosing  good 
and  evil. 

Our  books  of  medicine  contain  many  records  of  the  effects  of 
physical  causes  upon  the  memory,  the  imagination,  and  the  judg- 
ment. In  some  instances  we  behold  their  operation  only  on  one, 
in  others  on  two,  and  in  many  cases,  upon  the  whole  of  these 
faculties.  Their  derangement  has  received  different  names,  ac- 
cording to  the  number  or  nature  of  the  faculties  that  are  affected. 
The  loss  of  memory  has  been  called  "amnesia;"  false  judgment 
upon  one  subject  has  been  called  "melancholia;"  false  judgment 
upon  all  subjects  has  been  called  "mania;"  and  a  defect  of  all  the 
three  intellectual  faculties  that  have  been  mentioned  has  received 
the  name  of  "amentia."  Persons  who  labour  under  the  derange- 
ment, or  want,  of  these  faculties  of  the  mind,  are  considered, 
very  properly,  as  subjects  of  medicine;  and  there  are  many  cases 
upon  record,  that  prove  that  their  diseases  have  yielded  to  the 
healing  art. 

In  order  to  illustrate  the  effects  of  physical  causes  upon  the 
moral  faculty,  it  will  be  necessary  first  to  show  their  effects  upon 
the  memory,  the  imagination,  and  the  judgment;  and  at  the  same 
time  to  point  out  the  analogy  between  their  operation  upon  the 
intellectual  faculties  of  the  mind  and  the  moral  faculty. 

1 .  Do  we  observe  a  connection  between  the  intellectual  fac- 
ulties and  the  degrees  of  consistency  and  firmness  of  the  brain 
in  infancy  and  childhood?  The  same  connection  has  been  ob- 
served between  the  strength,  as  well  as  the  progress,  of  the  moral 
faculty  in  children. 

2.  Do  we  observe  a  certain  size  of  the  brain,  and  a  peculiar 
cast  of  features,  such  as  the  prominent  eye,  and  the  aquiline  nose, 
to  be  connected  with  extraordinary  portions  of  genius?  We  ob- 
serve a  similar  connection  between  the  figure  and  temperament 
of  the  body  and  certain  moral  qualities.  Hence  we  often  ascribe 
good  temper  and  benevolence  to  corpulency,  and  irascibility  to 
sanguineous  habits.  Caesar  thought  himself  safe  in  the  friendship 
of  the  "sleek-headed"  Anthony  and  Dolabella,  but  was  afraid 
to  trust  to  the  professions  of  the  slender  Cassius. 


1 84       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

3.  Do  we  observe  certain  degrees  of  the  intellectual  faculties 
to  be  hereditary  in  certain  families?  The  same  observation  has 
been  frequently  extended  to  moral  qualities.  Hence  we  often 
find  certain  virtues  and  vices  as  peculiar  to  families,  through  all 
their  degrees  of  consanguinity  and  duration,  as  a  peculiarity  of 
voice,  complexion,  or  shape. 

4.  Do  we  observe  instances  of  a  total  want  of  memory, 
imagination,  and  judgment,  either  from  an  original  defect  in  the 
stamina  of  the  brain,  or  from  the  influence  of  physical  causes? 
The  same  unnatural  defect  is  sometimes  observed,  and  probably 
from  the  same  causes,  of  a  moral  faculty.  The  celebrated  Servin, 
whose  character  is  drawn  by  the  Duke  of  Sully,  in  his  Memoirs, 
appears  to  be  an  instance  of  the  total  absence  of  the  moral  faculty, 
while  the  chasm  produced  by  this  defect,  seems  ^  to  have  been 
filled  up  by  a  more  than  common  extension  of  every  other  power 
of  his  mind.  I  beg  leave  to  repeat  the  history  of  this  prodigy 
of  vice  and  knowledge.  "Let  the  reader  represent  to  himself  a 
man  of  a  genius  so  lively,  and  of  an  understanding  so  extensive, 
as  rendered  him  scarce  ignorant  of  any  thing  that  could  be 
known;  of  so  vast  and  ready  a  comprehension,  that  he  imme- 
diately made  himself  master  of  whatever  he  attempted;  and  of  so 
prodigious  a  memory,  that  he  never  forgot  what  he  once  learned. 
He  possessed  all  parts  of  philosophy,  and  the  mathematics,  par- 
ticularly fortification  and  drawing.  Even  in  theology  he  was  so 
well  skilled,  that  he  was  an  excellent  preacher,  whenever  he  had 
a  mind  to  exert  that  talent,  and  an  able  disputant  for  and  against 
the  reformed  religion,  indifferently.  He  not  only  understood 
Greek,  Hebrew,  and  all  the  languages  which  we  call  learned, 
but  also  all  the  different  jargons,  or  modern  dialects.  He  accented 
and  pronounced  them  so  naturally,  and  so  perfectly  imitated  the 
gestures  and  manners  both  of  the  several  nations  of  Europe,  and 
the  particular  provinces  of  France,  that  he  might  have  been 
taken  for  a  native  of  all,  or  any,  of  these  countries:  and  this 
quality  he  applied  to  counterfeit  all  sorts  of  persons,  wherein  he 
succeeded  wonderfully.  He  was,  moreover,  the  best  comedian, 
and  the  greatest  droll  that  perhaps  ever  appeared.  He  had  a 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          185 

genius  for  poetry,  and  had  wrote  many  verses.  He  played  upon 
almost  all  instruments,  was  a  perfect  master  of  music,  and  sang 
most  agreeably  and  justly.  He  likewise  could  say  mass,  for  he 
was  of  a  disposition  to  do,  as  well  as  to  know,  all  things.  His 
body  was  perfectly  well  suited  to  his  mind.  He  was  light,  nimble, 
and  dexterous,  and  fit  for  all  exercises.  He  could  ride  well,  and 
in  dancing,  wrestling,  and  leaping,  he  was  admired.  There  are 
not  any  recreative  games  that  he  did  not  know,  and  he  was 
skilled  in  almost  all  mechanic  arts.  But  now  for  the  reverse  of 
the  medal.  Here  it  appeared,  that  he  was  treacherous,  cruel, 
cowardly,  deceitful,  a  liar,  a  cheat,  a  drunkard,  and  a  glutton, 
a  sharper  in  play,  immersed  in  every  species  of  vice,  a  blasphemer, 
an  atheist.  In  a  word,  in  him  might  be  found  all  the  vices  that 
are  contrary  to  nature,  honour,  religion,  and  society,  the  truth 
of  which  he  himself  evinced  with  his  latest  breath;  for  he  died 
in  the  flower  of  his  age,  in  a  common  brothel,  perfectly  cor- 
rupted by  his  debaucheries,  and  expired  with  the  glass,  in  his 
hand,  cursing  and  denying  God."  * 

It  was  probably  a  state  of  the  human  mind  such  as  has  been 
described,  that  our  Saviour  alluded  to  in  the  disciple  who  was 
about  to  betray  him,  when  he  called  him  "a  devil."  Perhaps  the 
essence  of  depravity,  in  infernal  spirits,  consists  in  their  being 
wholly  devoid  of  a  moral  faculty.  In  them  the  will  has  probably 
lost  the  power  of  choosing,  f  as  well  as  the  capacity  of  enjoying 
moral  good.  It  is  true,  we  read  of  their  trembling  in  a  belief  of 
the  existence  of  a  God,  and  of  their  anticipating  future  punish- 
ment, by  asking  whether  they  were  to  be  tormented  before  their 
time:  but  this  is  the  effect  of  conscience,  and  hence  arises  another 
argument  in  favour  of  this  judicial  power  of  the  mind  being  dis- 
tinct from  the  moral  faculty.  It  would  seem  as  if  the  Supreme 
Being  had  preserved  the  moral  faculty  in  man  from  the  ruins  of 

*  Vol.  iii.  p.  216,  217. 

t  Milton  seems  to  have  been  of  this  opinion.  Hence,  after  ascribing 
repentance  to  Satan,  he  makes  him  declare, 

"Farewell  remorse;  all  good  to  me  is  lost, 

Evil,  be  thou  my  good" 

PARADISE  LOST,  Book  IV. 


1 86       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

his  fall,  on  purpose  to  guide  him  back  again  to  Paradise,  and  at 
the  same  time  had  constituted  the  conscience,  both  in  men  and 
fallen  spirits,  a  kind  of  royalty  in  his  moral  empire,  on  purpose 
to  show  his  property  in  all  intelligent  creatures,  and  their  original 
resemblance  to  himself.  Perhaps  the  essence  of  moral  depravity 
in  man  consists  in  a  total,  but  temporary,  suspension  of  the  power 
of  conscience.  Persons  in  this  situation  are  emphatically  said  in 
the  Scriptures  to  "be  past  feeling,"  and  to  have  their  consciences 
seared  with  a  "hot  iron;"  they  are  likewise  said  to  be  "twice 
dead,"  that  is,  the  same  torpor,  or  moral  insensibility,  has  seized 
both  the  moral  faculty  and  the  conscience. 

5.  Do  we  ever  observe  instances  of  the  existence  of  only  one 
of  the  three  intellectual  powers  of  the  mind  that  have  been 
named,  in  the  absence  of  the  other  two?  We  observe  something 
of  the  same  kind  with  respect  to  the  moral  faculty.  I  once  knew 
a  man,  who  discovered  no  one  mark  of  reason,  who  possessed  the 
moral  sense  or  faculty  in  so  high  a  degree,  that  he  spent  his  whole 
life  in  acts  of  benevolence.  He  was  not  only  inoffensive  (which 
is  not  always  the  case  with  idiots),  but  he  was  kind  and  affec- 
tionate to  every  body.  Fie  had  no  ideas  of  time,  but  what  were 
suggested  to  him  by  the  returns  of  the  stated  periods  for  public 
worship,  in  which  he  appeared  to  take  great  delight.  He  spent 
several  hours  of  every  day  in  devotion,  in  which  he  was  so  careful 
to  be  private,  that  he  was  once  found  in  the  most  improbable 
place  in  the  world  for  that  purpose,  viz.  in  an  oven. 

6.  Do  we  observe  the  memory,  the  imagination,  and  the 
judgment  to  be  affected  by  diseases,  particularly  by  madness? 
Where  is  the  physician,  who  has  not  seen  the  moral  faculty 
affected  from  the  same  causes!  How  often  do  we  see  the  temper 
wholly  changed  by  a  fit  of  sickness!  And  how  often  do  we  hear 
persons  of  the  most  delicate  virtue  utter  speeches,  in  the  delirium 
of  a  fever,  that  are  offensive  to  decency  or  good  manners!  I  have 
heard  a  well-attested  history  of  a  clergyman  of  the  most  ex- 
emplary moral  character,  who  spent  the  last  moments  of  a  fever, 
which  deprived  him  both  of  his  reason  and  his  life,  in  profane 
cursing  and  swearing.  I  once  attended  a  young  woman  in  a 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          187 

nervous  fever,  who  discovered,  after  her  recovery,  a  loss  of  her 
former  habit  of  veracity.  Her  memory  (a  defect  of  which  might 
be  suspected  of  being  the  cause  of  this  vice),  was  in  every  respect 
as  perfect  as  it  was  before  the  attack  of  the  fever.*  The  instances 
of  immorality  in  maniacs,  who  were  formerly  distinguished  for 
the  opposite  character,  are  so  numerous,  and  well  known,  that 
it  will  not  be  necessary  to  select  any  cases,  to  establish  the  truth 
of  the  proposition  contained  under  this  head. 

7.  Do  we  observe  any  of  the  three  intellectual  faculties  that 
have  been  named  enlarged  by  diseases?  Patients  in  the  delirium 
of  a  fever,  often  discover  extraordinary  flights  of  imagination, 
and  madmen  often  astonish  us  with  their  wonderful  acts  of  mem- 
ory. The  same  enlargement,  sometimes,  appears  in  the  operations 
of  the  moral  faculty.  I  have  more  than  once  heard  the  most  sub- 
lime discourses  of  morality  in  the  cell  of  a  hospital,  and  who 
has  not  seen  instances  of  patients  in  acute  diseases  discovering 
degrees  of  benevolence  and  integrity,  that  were  not  natural  to 
them  in  the  ordinary  course  of  their  lives?  f 

8.  Do  we  ever  observe  a  partial  insanity,  or  false  perception 
on  one  subject,  while  the  judgment  is  sound  and  correct,  upon  all 
others?  We  perceive,  in  some  instances,  a  similar  defect  in  the 
moral  faculty.  There  are  persons  who  are  moral  in  the  highest 
degree  as  to  certain  duties,  who  nevertheless  live  under  the  in- 
fluence of  some  one  vice.  I  knew  an  instance  of  a  woman,  who 
was  exemplary  in  her  obedience  to  every  command  of  the  moral 
law,  except  one.  She  could  not  refrain  from  stealing.  What  made 
this  vice  the  more  remarkable  was,  that  she  was  in  easy  cif  cum- 
stances,  and  not  addicted  to  extravagance  in  any  thing.  Such 
was  her  propensity  to  this  vice,  that  when  she  could  lay  her 
hands  upon  nothing  more  valuable,  she  would  often,  at  the  table 

*  I  have  selected  this  case  from  many  others  which  have  come  under 
my  notice,  in  which  the  moral  faculty  appeared  to  be  impaired  by  dis- 
eases, particularly  by  the  typhus  of  Dr.  Cullen,  and  by  those  species  of 
palsy  which  affect  the  brain. 

fXenophon  makes  Cyrus  declare,  in  his  last  moments,  "That  the 
soul  of  man,  at  the  hour  of  death,  appears  most  divine,  and  then  foresees 
something  of  future  events." 


1 88       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

of  a  friend,  fill  her  pockets  secretly  with  bread.  As  a  proof  that 
her  judgment  was  not  affected  by  this  defect  in  her  moral  fac- 
ulty, she  would  both  confess  and  lament  her  crime,  when  de- 
tected in  it. 

9.  Do  we  observe  the  imagination  in  many  instances  to  be 
affected  with  apprehensions  of  dangers  that  have  no  existence? 
In  like  manner  we  observe  the  moral  faculty  to  discover  a  sen- 
sibility to  vice,  that  is  by  no  means  proportioned  to  its  degrees 
of  depravity.  How  often  do  we  see  persons  labouring  under  this 
morbid  sensibility  of  the  moral  faculty  refuse  to  give  a  direct 
answer  to  a  plain  question,  that  related  perhaps  only  to  the 
weather,  or  to  the  hour  of  the  day,  lest  they  should  wound  the 
peace  of  their  minds  by  telling  a  falsehood! 

10.  Do  dreams  affect  the  memory,  the  imagination,  and  the 
judgment?  Dreams  are  nothing  but  incoherent  ideas,  occasioned 
by  partial  or  imperfect  sleep.  There  is  a  variety  in  the  suspension 
of  the  faculties  and  operations  of  the  mind  in  this  state  of  the 
system.  In  some  cases  the  imagination  only  is  deranged  in  dreams, 
in  others  the  memory  is  affected,  and  in  others  the  judgment. 
But  there  are  cases  in  which  the  change  that  is  produced  in  the 
state  of  the  brain,  by  means  of  sleep,  affects  the  moral  faculty 
likewise;  hence  we  sometimes  dream  of  doing  and  saying  things, 
when  asleep,  which  we  shudder  at,  as  soon  as  we  awake.  This 
supposed   defection  from  virtue   exists  frequently  in   dreams, 
where  the  memory  and  judgment  are  scarcely  impaired.  It  can- 
not therefore  be  ascribed  to  an  absence  of  the  exercises  of  those 
two  powers  of  the  mind. 

1 1 .  Do  we  read,  in  the  accounts  of  travellers,  of  men,  who, 
in  respect  of  intellectual  capacity  and  enjoyments,  are  but  a  few 
degrees  above  brutes?  We  read  likewise  of  a  similar  degradation 
of  our  species,  in  respect  to  moral  capacity  and  feeling.  Here  it 
will  be  necessary  to  remark,  that  the  low  degrees  of  moral  per- 
ception, that  have  been  discovered  in  certain  African  and  Rus- 
sian tribes  of  men,  no  more  invalidate  our  proposition  of  the 
universal  and  essential  existence  of  a  moral  faculty  in  the  human 
mind,  than  the  low  state  of  their  intellects  prove,  that  reason 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          189 

is  not  natural  to  man.  Their  perceptions  of  good  and  evil  are  in 
exact  proportion  to  their  intellectual  faculties.  But  I  will  go 
further,  and  admit,  with  Mr.  Locke, *  that  some  savage  nations 
are  totally  devoid  of  the  moral  faculty,  yet  it  will  by  no  means 
follow,  that  this  was  the  original  constitution  of  their  minds. 
The  appetite  for  certain  aliments  is  uniform  among  all  mankind. 
Where  is  the  nation  and  the  individual,  in  their  primitive  state 
of  health,  to  whom  bread  is  not  agreeable?  But  if  we  should  find 
savages,  or  individuals,  whose  stomachs  have  been  so  disordered 
by  intemperance  as  to  refuse  this  simple  and  wholesome  article 
of  diet,  shall  we  assert  that  this  was  the  original  constitution  of 
their  appetites?  By  no  means.  As  well  might  we  assert,  because 
savages  destroy  their  beauty  by  painting  and  cutting  their  faces, 
that  the  principles  of  taste  do  not  exist  naturally  in  the  human 
mind.  It  is  with  virtue  as  with  fire.  It  exists  in  the  mind,  as  fire 
does  in  certain  bodies,  in  a  latent  or  quiescent  state.  As  collision 
renders  the  one  sensible,  so  education  renders  the  other  visible. 
It  would  be  as  absurd  to  maintain,  because  olives  become  agree- 
able to  many  people  from  habit,  that  we  have  no  natural  appetites 
for  any  other  kind  of  food,  as  to  assert  that  any  part  of  the 
human  species  exist  without  a  moral  principle,  because  in  some 
of  them  it  has  wanted  causes  to  excite  it  into  action,  or  has  been 
perverted  by  example.  There  are  appetites  that  are  wholly  arti- 
ficial. There  are  tastes  so  entirely  vitiated,  as  to  perceive  beauty 
in  deformity.  There  are  torpid  and  unnatural  passions.  Why, 
under  certain  unfavourable  circumstances,  may  there  not  exist 
also  a  moral  faculty,  in  a  state  of  sleep,  or  subject  to  mistakes? 

The  only  apology  I  shall  make,  for  presuming  to  differ  from 
that  justly  celebrated  oracle,f  who  first  unfolded  to  us  a  map  of 
the  intellectual  world,  shall  be,  that  the  eagle  eye  of  genius  often 
darts  its  views  beyond  the  notice  of  facts,  which  are  accommo- 
dated to  the  slender  organs  of  perception  ot  men,  who  possess 
no  other  talent  than  that  of  observation. 

It  is  not  surprising,  that  Mr.  Locke  has  confounded  this  moral 

*  Essay  concerning  the  Human  Understanding,  Book  I.  chap.  3. 
t  Mr.  Locke.  > 


i9o       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

principle  with  reason,  or  that  Lord  Shaftesbury  has  confounded 
it  with  taste,  since  all  three  of  these  faculties  agree  in  the  objects 
of  their  approbation,  notwithstanding  they  exist  in  the  mind 
independently  of  each  other.  The  favourable  influence,  which 
the  progress  of  science  and  taste  has  had  upon  the  morals,  can 
be  ascribed  to  nothing  else,  but  to  the  perfect  union  that  subsist 
in  nature  between  the  dictates  of  reason,  of  taste,  and  of  the 
moral  faculty.  Why  has  the  spirit  of  humanity  made  such  rapid 
progress  for  some  years  past  in  .the  courts  of  Europe?  It  is  be- 
cause kings  and  their  ministers  have  been  taught  to  reason  upon 
philosophical  subjects.  Why  have  indecency  and  profanity  been 
banished  from  the  stage  in  London  and  Paris?  It  is  because 
immorality  is  an  offence  against  the  highly  cultivated  taste  of  the 
French  and  English  nations. 

It  must  afford  great  pleasure  to  the  lovers  of  virtue,  to  behold 
the  depth  and  extent  of  this  moral  principle  in  the  human  mind. 
Happily  for  the  human  race,  the  intimations  of  duty  and  the 
road  to  happiness  are  not  left  to  the  slow  operations  or  doubtful 
inductions  of  reason,  nor  to  the  precarious  decisions  of  taste. 
Hence  we  often  find  the  moral  faculty  in  a  state  of  vigour  in 
persons,  in  whom  reason  and  taste  exist  in  a  weak,  or  in  an 
uncultivated  state.  It  is  worthy  of  notice,  likewise,  that  while 
second  thoughts  are  best  in  matters  of  judgment,  first  thoughts 
are  always  to  be  preferred  in  matters  that  relate  to  morality. 
Second  thoughts,  in  these  cases,  are  generally  parlies  between 
duty  and  corrupted  inclinations.  Hence  Rousseau  has  justly  said, 
that  "a  well  regulated  moral  instinct  is  the  surest  guide  to  hap- 
piness." 

It  must  afford  equal  pleasure  to  the  lovers  of  virtue  to  behold, 
that  our  moral  conduct  and  happiness  are  not  committed  to  the 
determination  of  a  single  legislative  power.  The  conscience,  like 
a  wise  and  faithful  legislative  council,  performs  the  office  of  a 
check  upon  the  moral  faculty,  and  thus  prevents  the  fatal  con- 
sequences of  immoral  actions. 

An  objection,  I  foresee,  will  arise  to  the  doctrine  of  the  in- 
fluence of  physical  causes  upon  the  moral  faculty,  from  its  being 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          191 

supposed  to  favour  the  opinion  of  the  materiality  of  the  soul. 
But  I  do  not  see  that  this  doctrine  obliges  us  to  decide  upon  the 
question  of  the  nature  of  the  soul,  any  more  than  the  facts  which 
prove  the  influence  of  physical  causes  upon  the  memory,  the 
imagination,  or  the  judgment.  I  shall,  however,  remark  upon 
this  subject,  that  the  writers  in  favour  of  the  iimnortality  of  the 
soul  have  done  that  truth  great  injury,  by  connecting  it  neces- 
sarily with  its  immateriality.  The  immortality  of  the  soul  depends 
upon  the  'will  of  the  Deity,  and  not  upon  the  supposed  properties 
of  spirit.  Matter  is  in  its  own  nature  as  immortal  as  spirit.  It  is 
resolvable  by  heat  and  mixture  into  a  variety  of  forms;  but  it 
requires  the  same  Almighty  hand  to  annihilate  it,  that  it  did  to 
create  it.  I  know  of  no  arguments  to  prove  the  immortality  of 
the  soul,  but  such  as  are  derived  from  the  Christian  revelation.* 
It  would  be  as  reasonable  to  assert  that  the  basin  of  the  ocean 
is  immortal,  from  the  greatness  of  its  capacity  to  hold  water; 
or  that  we  are  to  live  for  ever  in  this  world,  because  we  are 
afraid  of  dying;  as  to  maintain  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  from 
the  greatness  of  its  capacity  for  knowledge  and  happiness,  or 
from  its  dread  of  annihilation. 

I  remarked,  in  the  beginning  of  this  discourse,  that  persons 
who  are  deprived  of  the  just  exercise  of  memory,  imagination, 
or  judgment,  were  proper  subjects  of  medicine;  and  that  there 
are  many  cases  upon  record  which  prove,  that  the  diseases  from 
the  derangement  of  these  faculties  have  yielded  to  the  healing  art. 

It  is  perhaps  only  because  the  diseases  of  the  moral  faculty 
have  not  been  traced  to  a  connection  with  physical  causes,  that 
medical  writers  have  neglected  to  give  them  a  place  in  their 
systems  of  nosology,  and  that  so  few  attempts  have  been  hitherto 
made  to  lessen  or  remove  them,  by  physical  as  well  as  rational 
and  moral  remedies. 

I  shall  not  attempt  to  derive  any  support  to  my  opinions, 
from  the  analogy  of  the  influence  of  physical  causes  upon  the 
temper  and  conduct  of  brute  animals.  The  facts  which  I  shall 

*  "Life  and  immortality  are  brought  to  light  only  through  the  gospel." 

2  Tim.  i.  10. 


1 92       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

produce  in  favour  of  the  action  of  these  causes  upon  morals  in 
the  human  species,  will,  I  hope,  render  unnecessary  the  argu- 
ments that  might  be  drawn  from  that  quarter. 

I  am  aware,  that  in  venturing  upon  this  subject  I  step  upon 
untrodden  ground.  I  feel  as  /Eneas  did,  when  he  was  about  to 
enter  the  gates  of  Avernus,  but  without  a  sybil  to  instruct  me 
in  the  mysteries  that  are  before  me.  I  foresee,  that  men  who 
have  been  educated  in  the  mechanical  habits  of  adopting  popular 
or  established  opinions  will  revolt  at  the  doctrine  I  am  about 
to  deliver,  while  men  of  sense  and  genius  will  hear  my  proposi- 
tions with  candour,  and  if  they  do  not  adopt  them,  will  com- 
mend that  boldness  of  inquiry,  that  prompted  me  to  broach 
them. 

I  shall  begin  with  an  attempt  to  supply  the  defects  of  noso- 
logical  writers,  by  naming  the  partial  or  weakened  action  of  the 
moral  faculty,  MICRONOMIA.  The  total  absence  of  this  faculty  I 
shall  call  ANOMIA.  By  the  law,  referred  to  in  these  new  genera 
of  vesaniae,  I  mean  the  law  of  nature  written  in  the  human  heart, 
and  which  I  formerly  quoted  from  the  writings  of  St.  Paul. 

In  treating  of  the  effects  of  physical  causes  upon  the  moral 
faculty,  it  might  help  to  extend  our  ideas  upon  this  subject,  to 
reduce  virtues  and  vices  to  certain  species,  and  to  point  out  the 
effects  of  particular  species  of  virtue  and  vice;  but  this  would 
lead  us  into  a  field  too  extensive  for  the  limits  of  the  present 
inquiry.  I  shall  only  hint  at  a  few  cases,  and  have  no  doubt  but 
the  ingenuity  of  my  auditors  will  supply  my  silence,  by  applying 
the  rest. 

It  is  immaterial,  whether  the  physical  causes  that  are  to  be 
enumerated  act  upon  the  moral  faculty  through  the  medium  of 
the  senses,  the  passions,  the  memory,  or  the  imagination.  Their 
influence  is  equally  certain,  whether  they  act  as  remote,  pre- 
disposing, or  occasional  causes. 

i.  The  effects  of  CLIMATE  upon  the  moral  faculty  claim  our 
first  attention.  Not  only  individuals,  but  nations,  derive  a  con- 
siderable part  of  their  moral,  as  well  as  intellectual  character, 
from  the  different  portions  they  enjoy  of  the  rays  of  the  sun. 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          193 

Irascibility,  levity,  timidity,  and  indolence,  tempered  with  occa- 
sional emotions  of  benevolence,  are  the  moral  qualities  of  the 
inhabitants  of  warm  climates,  while  selfishness,  tempered  with 
sincerity  and  integrity,  form  the  moral  character  of  the  in- 
habitants of  cold  countries.  The  state  of  the  weather,  and  the 
seasons  of  the  year  also,  have  a  visible  effect  upon  moral  sen- 
sibility. The  month  of  November,  in  Great  Britain,  rendered 
gloomy  by  constant  fogs  and  rains,  has  been  thought  to  favour 
the  perpetration  of  the  worst  species  of  murder,  while  the  vernal 
sun,  in  middle  latitudes,  has  been  as  generally  remarked  for  pro- 
ducing gentleness  and  benevolence. 

2.  The  effects  of  DIET  upon  the  moral  faculty  are  more 
certain,  though  less  attended  to,  than  the  effects  of  climate.  "Full- 
ness of  bread, "  we  are  told,  was  one  of  the  predisposing  causes 
of  the  vices  of  the  Cities  of  the  Plain.  The  fasts  so  often  incul- 
cated among  the  Jews  were  intended  to  lessen  the  incentives  to 
vice;  for  pride,  cruelty,  and  sensuality,  are  as  much  the  natural 
consequences  of  luxury,  as  apoplexies  and  palsies.  But  the  quality 
as  well  as  the  quantity  of  aliment  has  an  influence  upon  morals; 
hence  we  find  the  moral  diseases  that  have  been  mentioned  are 
most  frequently  the  offspring  of  animal  food.  The  prophet  Isaiah 
seems  to  have  been  sensible  of  this,  when  he  ascribes  such  salu- 
tary effects  to  a  temperate  and  vegetable  diet.  "Butter  and  honey 
shall  he  eat,"  says  he,  "that  he  may  know  to  refuse  the  evil,  and 
to  choose  the  good."  But  we  have  many  facts  which  prove  the 
efficacy  of  a  vegetable  diet  upon  the  passions.  Dr.  Arbuthnot 
assures  us,  that  he  cured  several  patients  of  irascible  tempers,  by 
nothing  but  a  prescription  of  this  simple  and  temperate  regimen. 

3.  The  effects  of  CERTAIN  DRINKS  upon  the  moral  faculty 
are  not  less  observable,  than  upon  the  intellectual  powers  of  the 
mind.  Fermented  liquors,  of  a  good  quality,  and  taken  in  a 
moderate  quantity,  are  favourable  to  the  virtues  of  candour, 
benevolence,  and  generosity;  but  when  they  are  taken  in  excess, 
or  when  they  are  of  a  bad  quality,  and  taken  even  in  a  moderate 
quantity,  they  seldom  fail  of  rousing  every  latent  spark  of  vice 
into  action.  The  last  of  these  facts  is  so  notorious,  that  when  a 


i94      SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

man  is  observed  to  be  ill-natured  or  quarrelsome  in  Portugal, 
after  drinking,  it  is  common  in  that  country  to  say,  that  "he  has 
drunken  bad  wine."  While  occasional  fits  of  intoxication  produce 
ill-temper  in  many  people,  habitual  drunkenness  (which  is  gen- 
erally produced  by  distilled  spirits)  never  fails  to  eradicate 
veracity  and  integrity  from  the  human  mind.  Perhaps  this  may 
be  the  reason  why  the  Spaniards,  in  ancient  times,  never  ad- 
mitted a  man's  evidence  in  a  court  of  justice,  who  had  been  con- 
victed of  drunkenness.  Water  is  the  universal  sedative  of  tur- 
bulent passions;  it  not  only  promotes  a  general  equanimity  of 
temper,  but  it  composes  anger.  I  have  heard  several  well-attested 
cases,  of  a  draught  of  cold  water  having  suddenly  composed  this 
violent  passion,  after  the  usual  remedies  of  reason  had  been 
applied  to  no  purpose. 

4.  EXTREME  HUNGER  produces  the  most  unfriendly  effects 
upon  moral  sensibility.  It  is  immaterial,  whether  it  act  by  in- 
ducing a  relaxation  of  the  solids,  or  an  acrimony  of  the  fluids, 
or  by  the  combined  operations  of  both  those  physical  causes. 
The  Indians  in  this  country  whet  their  appetites  for  that  savage 
species  of  war,  which  is  peculiar  to  them,  by  the  stimulus  of 
hunger;  hence,  we  are  told,  they  always  return  meagre  and 
emaciated  from  their  military  excursions.  In  civilized  life  we 
often  behold  this  sensation  to  overbalance  the  restraints  of  moral 
feeling;  and  perhaps  this  may  be  the  reason  why  poverty,  which 
is  the  most  frequent  parent  of  hunger,  disposes  so  generally  to 
theft;  for  the  character  of  hunger  is  taken  from  that  vice;  it 
belongs  to  it  "to  break  through  stone  walls."  So  much  does  this 
sensation  predominate  over  reason  and  moral  feeling,  that  Car- 
dinal de  Retz  suggests  to  politicians,  never  to  risk  a  motion  in 
a  popular  assembly,  however  wise  or  just  it  may  be,  immediately 
before  dinner.  That  temper  must  be  uncommonly  guarded, 
which  is  not  disturbed  by  long  abstinence  from  food.  One  of  the 
worthiest  men  I  ever  knew,  who  made  his  breakfast  his  principal 
meal,  was  peevish  and  disagreeable  to  his  friends  and  family, 
from  the  time  he  left  his  bed  till  he  sat  down  to  his  morning 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          195 

repast;  after  which,  cheerfulness  sparkled  in  his  countenance, 
and  he  became  the  delight  of  all  around  him. 

5.  I  hinted  formerly,  in  proving  the  analogy  between  the 
effects  of  DISEASES  upon  the  intellects,  and  upon  the  moral  faculty, 
that  the  latter  was  frequently  impaired  by  fevers  and  madness. 
I  beg  leave  to  add  further  upon  this  head,  that  not  only  madness, 
but  the  hysteria  and  hypochondriasis,  as  well  as  all  those  states 
of  the  body,  whether  idiopathic  or  symptomatic,  which  are 
accompanied  with  preternatural  irritability — sensibility — torpor 
— stupor  or  mobility  of  the  nervous  system,  dispose  to  vice,  either 
of  the  body  or  of  the  mind.  It  is  in  vain  to  attack  these  vices 
with  lectures  upon  morality.  They  are  only  to  be  cured  by 
medicine, — particularly  by  exercise, — the  cold  bath, — and  by  a 
cold  or  warm  atmosphere.  The  young  woman,  whose  case  I 
mentioned  formerly,  that  lost  her  habit  of  veracity  by  a  nervous 
fever,  recovered  this  virtue,  as  soon  as  her  system  recovered  its 
natural  tone,  from  the  cold  weather  which  happily  succeeded 
her  fever.* 

6.  Idleness  is  the  parent  of  every  vice.  It  is  mentioned  in  the 
Old  Testament  as  another  of  the  predisposing  causes  of  the  vices 
of  the  Cities  of  the  Plain.  Labor  of  all  kinds  favors  and  facilitates 


*  There  is  a  morbid  state  of  excitability  in  the  body  during  the  con- 
valescence from  fever,  which  is  intimately  connected  with  an  undue  pro- 
pensity to  venereal  pleasures.  I  have  met  with  several  instances  of  it.  The 
marriage  of  the  celebrated  Mr.  Howard  to  a  woman  who  was  twice  as 
old  as  himself,  and  very  sickly,  has  been  ascribed  by  his  biographer, 
Dr.  Aikcn,  to  gratitude  for  her  great  attention  to  him  in  a  fit  of  sickness. 
I  am  disposed  to  ascribe  it  to  a  sudden  paroxysm  of  another  passion, 
which  as  a  religious  man,  he  could  not  gratify  in  any  other,  than  in  a 
lawful  way.  I  have  heard  of  two  young  clergmen  who  married  ,the  women 
who  had  nursed  them  in  fits  of  sickness.  In  both  cases  there  was  great 
inequality  in  their  years,  and  condition  in  life.  Their  motive  was,  prob- 
ably, the  same  as  that  which  I  have  attributed  to  Mr.  Howard.  Dr.  Patrick 
Russel  takes  notice  of  an  uncommon  degree  of  venereal  excitability  which 
followed  attacks  of  the  plague  at  Messina,  in  1743,  in  all  ranks  of  people. 
Marriages,  he  says,  were  more  frequent  after  it  than  usual,  and  virgins 
were,  in  some  instances  violated,  who  died  of  that  disease,  by  persons  who 
had  just  recovered  from  it. 


196       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

the  practice  of  virtue.  The  country  life  is  happy,  chiefly  because 
its  laborious  employments  are  favourable  to  virtue,  and  unfriend!) 
to  vice.  It  is  a  common  practice,  I  have  been  told,  for  the  planters 
in  the  southern  states,  to  consign  a  house  slave,  who  has  become 
vicious  from  idleness,  to  the  drudgery  of  the  field,  in  order  to 
reform  him.  The  bridewells  and  workhouses  of  all  civilized 
countries  prove  that  LABOR  is  not  only  a  very  severe,  but  the 
most  benevolent  of  all  punishments,  in  as  much  as  it  is  one  of 
the  most  suitable  means  of  reformation.  Mr.  Howard  tells  us 
in  his  History  of  Prisons,  that  in  Holland  it  is  a  common  saying, 
"Make  men  work  and  you  will  make  them  honest."  And  over 
the  rasp  and  spin-house  at  Grceningen,  this  sentiment  is  expressed 
(he  tells  us)  by  a  happy  motto: 

"Vitiorum  semina — otium — labore  exhauriendum." 

The  effects  of  steady  labour  in  early  life,  in  creating  virtuous 
habits,  is  still  more  remarkable.  The  late  Anthony  Benezet  of 
this  city,  whose  benevolence  was  the  sentinel  of  the  virtue,  as 
well  as  of  the  happiness  of  his  country,  made  it  a  constant  rule 
in  binding  out  poor  children,  to  avoid  putting  them  into  wealthy 
families,  but  always  preferred  masters  for  them  who  worked 
themselves,  and  who  obliged  these  children  to  work  in  their 
presence.  If  the  habits  of  virtue,  contracted  by  means  of  this 
apprenticeship  to  labour,  are  purely  mechanical,  their  effects  are, 
nevertheless,  the  same  upon  the  happiness  of  society,  as  if  they 
flowed  from  principle.  The  mind,  moreover,  when  preserved  by 
these  means  from  weeds,  becomes  a  more  mellow  soil  afterwards, 
for  moral  and  rational  improvement. 

7.  The  effects  of  EXCESSIVE  SLEEP  are  intimately  connected 
with  the  effects  of  idleness  upon  the  moral  faculty;  hence  we 
find  that  moderate,  and  even  scanty  portions  of  sleep,  in  every 
part  of  the  world,  have  been  found  to  be  friendly,  not  only  to 
health  and  long  life,  but  in  many  instances  to  morality.  The 
practice  of  the  monks,  who  often  sleep  upon  a  floor,  and  who 
generally  rise  with  the  sun,  for  the  sake  of  mortifying  their 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          197 

sensual  appetites,  is  certainly  founded  in  wisdom,  and  has  often 
produced  the  most  salutary  moral  effects. 

8.  The  effects  of  BODILY  PAIN  upon  the  moral,  are  not  less 
remarkable  than  upon  the  intellectual  powers  of  the  mind.  The 
late  Dr.  Gregory,  of  the  University  of  Edinburgh,  used  to  tell 
his  pupils,  that  he  always  found  his  perceptions  quicker  in  a  fit 
of  the  gout,  than  at  any  other  time.  The  pangs  which  attend  the 
dissolution  of  the  body,  are  often  accompanied  with  conceptions 
and  expressions  upon  the  most  ordinary  subjects,  that  discover 
an  uncommon  elevation  of  the  intellectual  powers.  The  effects  of 
bodily  pain  are  exactly  the  same  in  rousing  and  directing  the 
moral  faculty.  Bodily  pain,  we  find,  was  one  of  the  remedies 
employed  in  the  Old  Testament,  for  extirpating  vice  and  pro- 
moting virtue:   and  Mr.  Howard  tells  us,  that  he  saw  it  em- 
ployed successfully  as  a  means  of  reformation,  in  one  of  the 
prisons  which  he  visited.  If  pain  has  a  physical  tendency  to  cure 
vice,  I  submit  it  to  the  consideration  of  parents  and  legislators, 
whether  moderate  degrees  of  corporal  punishments,  inflicted  for 
a  great  length  of  time,  would  not  be  more  medicinal  in  their 
effects,  than  the  violent  degrees  of  them,  which  are  of  short 
duration. 

9.  Too  much  cannot  be  said  in  favour  of  CLEANLINESS,  as  a 
physical  means  of  promoting  virtue.  The  writings  of  Moses  have 
been  called,  by  military  men,  the  best  "orderly  book"  in  the 
world.  In  every  part  of  them  we  find  cleanliness  inculcated  with 
as  much  zeal,  as  if  it  was  part  of  the  moral,  instead  of  the  Leviti- 
cal  law.  Now,  it  is  well-known,  that  the  principal  design  of  every 
precept  and  rite  of  the  ceremonial  parts  of  the  Jewish  religion, 
was  to  prevent  vice,  and  to  promote  virtue.  All  writers  upon 
the  leprosy,  take  notice  of  its  connection  with  a  certain  vice. 
To  this  disease  gross  animal  food,  particularly  swine's  flesh,  and 
a  dirty  skin,  have  been  thought  to  be  predisposing  causes — 
hence  the  reason,  probably,  why  pork  was  forbidden,  and  why 
ablutions  of  the  body  and  limbs  were  so  frequently  inculcated 
by  the  Jewish  law.  Sir  John  Pringle's  remarks,  in  his  oration 
upon  Captain  Cook's  Voyage,  delivered  before  the  Royal  So- 


198       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

ciety  in  London,  are  very  pertinent  to  this  part  of  our  subject: — 
"Cleanliness  (says  he)  is  conducive  to  health,  but  is  it  not  obvi- 
ous, that  it  also  tends  to  good  order  and  other  virtues?  Such 
(meaning  the  ship's  crew)  as  were  made  more  cleanly,  became 
more  sober,  more  orderly,  and  more  attentive  to  duty."  The 
benefit  to  be  derived  by  parents  and  schoolmasters  frdm  attend- 
ing to  these  facts,  is  too  obvious  to  be  mentioned. 

10.  I  hope  I  shall  be  excused  in  placing  SOLITUDE  among  the 
physical  causes  which  influence  the  moral  faculty,  when  I  add, 
that  I  confine  its  effects  to  persons  who  are  irreclaimable  by 
rational  or  moral  remedies.  Mr.  Howard  informs  us,  that  the 
chaplain  of  the  prison  at  Liege  in  Germany  assured  him  "that  the 
most  refractory  and  turbulent  spirits,  became  tractable  and  sub- 
missive, by  being  closely  confined  for  four  or  'five  days."  In 
bodies  that  are  predisposed  to  vice,  the  stimulus  of  cheerful,  but 
much  more  of  profane  society  and  conversation,  upon  the  animal 
spirits,  becomes  an  exciting  cause,  and  like  the  stroke  of  the  flint 
upon  the  steel,  renders  the  sparks  of  vice  both  active  and  visible. 
By  removing  men  out  of  the  reach  of  this  exciting  cause,  they 
are  often  reformed,  especially  if  they  are  confined  long  enough 
to  produce  a  sufficient  chasm  in  their  habits  of  vice.  Where  the 
benefit  of  reflection,  and  instruction  from  books,  can  be  added 
to  solitude  and  confinement,  their  good  effects  are  still  more 
certain.  To  this  philosophers  and  poets  in  every  age  have  as- 
sented, by  describing  the  life  of  a  hermit  as  a  life  of  passive 
virtue. 

n.  Connected  with  solitude,  as  a  mechanical  means  of  pro- 
moting virtue,  SILI?NCE  deserves  to  be  mentioned  in  this  place. 
The  late  Dr.  Fothergill,  in  his  plan  of  education  for  that  benevo- 
lent institution  at  Ackworth,  which  was  the  last  jcare  of  his  useful 
life,  says  every  thing  that  can  be  said  in  favour  of  this  necessary 
discipline,  in  the  following  words:  "To  habituate  children  from 
their  early  infancy,  to  silence  and  attention,  is  of  the  greatest 
advantage  to  them,  not  only  as  a  preparative  to  their  advance- 
ment in  a  religious  life,  but  as  the  groundwork  of  a  well-culti- 
vated understanding.  To  have  the  active  minds  of  children  put 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          199 

under  a  kind  of  restraint — to  be  accustomed  to  turn  their  atten- 
tion from  external  objects,  and  habituated  to  a  degree  of  ab- 
stracted quiet,  is  a  matter  of  great  consequence,  and  lasting 
benefit  to  them.  Although  it  cannot  be  supposed,  that  young  and 
active  minds  are  always  engaged  in  silence  as  they  ought  to  be, 
yet  to  be  accustomed  thus  to  quietness,  is  no  small  point  gained 
towards  fixing  a  habit  of  patience,  and  recollection,  which  sel- 
dom forsakes  those  who  have  been  properly  instructed  in  this 
entrance  of  the  school  of  wisdom,  during  the  residue  of  their 
days." 

For  the  purpose  of  acquiring  this  branch  of  education,  chil- 
dren cannot  associate  too  early,  nor  too  often  with  their  parents, 
or  with  their  superiors  in  age,  rank,  and  wisdom. 

12.  The  effects  of  music  upon  the  moral  faculty,  have  been 
felt  and  recorded  in  every  country.  Hence  we  are  able  to  dis- 
cover the  virtues  and  vices  of  different  nations,  by  their  tunes, 
as  certainly  as  by  their  laws.  The  effects  of  music,  when  simply 
mechanical,  upon  the  passions,  are  powerful  and  extensive.  But 
it  remains  yet  to  determine  the  degrees  of  moral  ecstacy,  that 
may  be  produced  by  an  attack  upon  the  ear,  the  reason,  and  the 
moral  principle,  at  the  same  time,  by  the  combined  powers  of 
music  and  eloquence. 

13.  The  ELOQUENCE  of  the  PULPIT  is  nearly  allied  to  music 
in  its  effects  upon  the  moral  faculty.  It  is  true,  there  can  be  no 
permanent  change  in  the  temper  and  moral  conduct  of  a  man, 
that  is  not  derived  from  the  understanding  and  the  will;  but  we 
must  remember  that  these  two  powers  of  the  mind  are  most 
assailable,  when  they  are  attacked  through  the  avenue  of  the 
passions;  and  these,  we  know,  when  agitated  by  the  powers  of 
eloquence,  exert  a  mechanical  action  upon  every  power  of  the 
soul.  Hence  we  find,  in  every  age  and  country  where  Christianity 
has  been  propagated,  the  most  accomplished  orators  have  gen- 
erally been  the  most  successful  reformers  of  mankind.  There 
must  be  a  defect  of  eloquence  in  a  preacher,  who,  with  the  re- 
sources for  oratory  which  are  contained  in  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments,  does  not  produce  in  every  man  who  hears  him  at 


200      SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

least  a  temporary  love  of  virtue.  I  grant  that  the  eloquence 
of  the  pulpit  alone  cannot  change  men  into  Christians,  but  it 
certainly  possesses  the  power  of  changing  brutes  into  men. 
Could  the  eloquence  of  the  stage  be  properly  directed,  it  is 
impossible  to  conceive  the  extent  of  its  mechanical  effects  upon 
morals.  The  language  and  imagery  of  a  Shakspeare,  upon  moral 
and  religious  subjects,  poured  upon  the  passions  and  the  senses, 
in  all  the  beauty  and  variety  of  dramatic  representation;  who 
could  resist,  or  describe  their  effects? 

14.  ODOURS  of  various  lands  have  been  observed  to  act  in 
the  most  sensible  manner  upon  the  moral  faculty.  Brydone  tells 
us,  upon  the  authority  of  a  celebrated  philosopher  in  Italy,  that 
the  peculiar  wickedness  of  the  people  who  live  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  ^Etna  and  Vesuvius  is  occasioned  chiefly  by  the  smell 
of  the  sulphur,  and  of  the  hot  exhalations  which  are  constantly 
discharging  from  those  volcanoes.  Agreeable  odours  seldom  fail 
to  inspire  serenity,  and  to  compose  the  angry  spirits.  Hence  the 
pleasure,  and  one  of  the  advantages,  of  a  flower-garden.  The 
smoke  of  tobacco  is  likewise  of  a  composing  nature,  and  tends 
not  only  to  produce  what  is  called  a  train  in  perception,  but  to 
hush  the  agitated  passions  into  silence  and  order.  Hence  the 
practice  of  connecting  the  pipe  or  cigar  and  the  bottle  together, 
in  public  company. 

15.  It  will  be  sufficient  only  to  mention  LIGHT  and  DARKNESS, 
to  suggest  facts  in  favour  of  the  influence  of  each  of  them  upon 
moral  sensibility.  How  often  do  the  peevish  complaints  of  the 
night,  in  sickness,  give  way  to  the  composing  rays  of  the  light  of 
the  morning?  Othello  cannot  murder  Desdemona  by  candle- 
light, and  who  has  not  felt  the  effects  of  a  blazing  fire  upon  the 
gentle  passions?  * 

*  The  temperature  of  the  air  has  a  considerable  influence  upon  moral 
feeling.  Henry  the  Third  of  France  was  always  ill-humoured,  and  some- 
times cruel,  in  cold  weather.  There  is  a  damp  air  which  comes  from  the 
sea  in  Northumberland  county  in  England,  which  is  known  by  the  name 
of  the  seafret,  from  its  inducing  fretfulness  in  the  temper. 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          201 

1 6.  It  is  to  be  lamented,  that  no  experiments  have  as  yet  been 
made,  to  determine  the  effects  of  all  the  different  species  of  AIRS, 
which  chemistry  has  lately  discovered,  upon  the  moral  faculty. 
I  have  authority,  from  actual  experiments,  only  to  declare,  that 
dephlogisticated  air,  when  taken  into  the  lungs,  produces  cheer- 
fulness, gentleness,  and  serenity  of  mind. 

17.  What  shall  we  say  of  the  effects  of  MEDICINES  upon  the 
moral  faculty?  That  many  substances  in  the  materia  medica  act 
upon  the  intellects  is  well  known  to  physicians.  Why  should  it 
be  thought  impossible  for  medicines  to  act  in  like  manner  upon 
the  moral  faculty?  May  not  the  earth  contain,  in  its  bowels,  or 
upon  its  surface,  antidotes?  But  I  will  not  blend  facts  with  con- 
jectures. Clouds  and  darkness  still  hang  upon  this  part  of  my 
subject. 

Let  it  not  be  suspected,  from  any  thing  that  I  have  delivered, 
that  I  suppose  the  influence  of  physical  causes  upon  the  moral 
faculty  renders  the  agency  of  divine  influence  unnecessary  to 
our  moral  happiness.  I  only  maintain,  that  the  operations  of  the 
divine  government  are  carried  on  in  the  moral,  as  in  the  natural 
world,  by  the  instrumentality  of  second  causes.  I  have  only 
trodden  in  the  footsteps  of  the  inspired  writers;  for  most  of  the 
physical  causes  I  have  enumerated  are  connected  with  moral 
precepts,  or  have  been  used  as  the  means  of  reformation  from 
vice,  in  the  Old  and  New  Testaments.  To  the  cases  that  have 
been  mentioned,  I  shall  only  add,  that  Nebuchadnezzar  was 
cured  of  his  pride,  by  means  of  solitude  and  a  vegetable  diet. 
Saul  was  cured  of  his  evil  spirit,  by  means  of  David's  harp,  and 
St.  Paul  expressly  says,  "I  keep  my  body  under,  and  bring  it  into 
subjection,  lest  that  by  any  means,  when  I  have  preached  to 
others,  I  myself  should  be  a  cast-away."  But  I  will  go  one  step 
further,  and  add,  in  favour  of  divine  influence  upon  the  moral 
principle,  that  in  those  extraordinary  cases,  where  bad  men  are 
suddenly  reformed,  without  the  instrumentality  of  physical, 
moral  or  rational  causes,  I  believe  that  the  organization  of  those 
parts  of  the  body,  in  which  the  faculties  of  the  mind  are  seated, 


202       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

undergoes  a  physical  change;  *  and  hence  the  expression  of  a 
"new  creature,"  which  is  made  use  of  in  the  Scriptures  to  denote 
this  change,  is  proper  in  a  literal,  as  well  as  a  -figurative  sense.  It 
is  probably  the  beginning  of  that  perfect  renovation  of  trie 
human  body,  which  is  predicted  by  St.  Paul  in  the  following 
words:  "For  our  conversation  is  in  heaven,  from  whence  we 
look  for  the  Saviour,  who  shall  change  our  vile  bodies,  that  they 
may  be  fashioned  according  to  his  own  glorious  body."  I  shall 
not  pause  to  defend  myself  against  the  charge  of  enthusiasm 
in  this  place;  for  the  age  is  at  length  arrived,  so  devoutly  wished 
for  by  Dr.  Cheyne,  in  which  men  will  not  be  deterred  in  their 
researches  after  truth,  by  the  terror  of  odious  or  unpopular 
names. 

I  cannot  help  remarking  under  this  head,  that  if  the  condi- 
tions of  those  parts  of  the  human  body  which  are  connected  with 
the  human  soul  influence  morals,  the  same  reason  may  be  given 
for  a  virtuous  education,  that  has  been  admitted  for  teaching 
music,  and  the  pronunciation  of  foreign  languages,  in  the  early 
and  yielding  state  of  those  organs  which  form  the  voice  and 
speech.  Such  is  the  effect  of  a  moral  education,  that  we  often 
see  its  fruits  in  advanced  stages  of  life,  after  the  religious  prin- 
ciples which  were  connected  with  it  have  been  renounced;  just 
as  we  perceive  the  same  care  in  a  surgeon  in  his  attendance  upon 
patients,  after  the  sympathy  which  first  produced  this  care  has 
ceased  to  operate  upon  his  mind.  The  boasted  morality  of  the 
deists  is,  I  believe,  in  most  cases,  the  offspring  of  habits,  pro- 
duced originally  by  the  principles  and  precepts  of  Christianity. 
Hence  appears  the  wisdom  of  Solomon's  advice,  "Train  up  a 
child  in  the  way  he  should  go,  and  when  he  is  old  he  will  not," 
I  had  almost  said,  he  cannot,  "depart  from  it." 

Thus  have   I   enumerated  the   principal  causes  which  act 

*  St.  Paul  was  suddenly  transformed  from  a  persecutor  into  a  man 
of  a  gentle  and  amiable  spirit.  The  manner  in  which  this  change  was 
effected  upon  his  mind,  he  tells  us  in  the  following  words:  "Neither  cir- 
cumcision availeth  any  thing,  nor  uncircumcision,  but  a  new  creature. 
From  henceforth  let  no  man  trouble  me;  for  I  bear  in  my  body  the 
marks  of  our  Lord  Jesus."  Galatians  vi.  15,  17. 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          203 

mechanically  upon  morals.  If,  from  the  combined  action  of 
physical  powers  that  are  opposed  to  each  other,  the  moral  faculty 
should  become  stationary,  or  if  the  virtue  or  vice  produced  by 
them  should  form  a  neutral  quality,  composed  of  both  of  them, 
I  hope  it  will  not  call  in  question  the  truth  of  our  general  propo- 
sitions. I  have  only  mentioned  the  effects  of  physical  causes  in 
a  simple  state.* 

It  might  help  to  enlarge  our  ideas  upon  this  subject,  to  take 
notice  of  the  influence  of  the  different  stages  of  society,  of 
agriculture  and  commerce,  of  soil  and  situation,  of  the  different 
degrees  of  cultivation  of  taste,  and  of  the  intellectual  powers, 
of  the  different  forms  of  government,  and  lastly,  of  the  different 
professions  and  occupations  of  mankind,  upon  the  moral  faculty; 
but  as  these  act  indirectly  only,  and  by  the  intervention  of  causes 
that  are  unconnected  with  matter,  I  conceive  they  are  foreign 
to  the  business  of  the  present  inquiry.  If  they  should  vary  the 
action  of  the  simple  physical  causes  in  any  degree,  I  hope  it  will 
not  call  in  question  the  truth  of  our  general  propositions,  any 
more  than  the  compound  action  of  physical  powers  that  are 
opposed  to  each  other.  There  remain  but  a  few  more  causes 
which  are  of  a  compound  nature,  but  they  are  So  nearly  related 
to  those  which  are  purely  mechanical,  that  I  should  beg  leave 
to  trespass  upon  your  patience,  by  giving  them  a  place  in  my 
oration. 

The  effects  of  imitation,  habit,  and  association,  upon  morals, 
would  furnish  ample  matter  for  investigation.  Considering  how 
much  the  shape,  texture,  and  conditions  of  the  human  body 
influence  morals,  I  submit  it  to  the  consideration  of  the  ingenious, 
whether,  in  our  endeavours  to  imitate  moral  examples,  some 
advantage  may  not  be  derived,  from  our  copying  the  features 
and  external  manners  of  the  originals.  What  makes  the  success 
of  this  experiment  probable  is,  that  we  generally  find  men,  whose 

*  The  doctrine  of  the  influence  of  physical  causes  on  morals  is  hap- 
pily calculated  to  beget  charity  towards  the  failings  of  our  fellow- 
creatures.  Our  duty  to  practise  this  virtue  is  enforced  by  motives  drawn 
from  science,  as  well  as  from  the  precepts  of  Christianity. 


204       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

faces  resemble  each  other,  have  the  same  manners  and  disposi- 
tions. I  infer  the  possibility  of  success  in  an  attempt  to  imitate 
originals  in  a  manner  that  has  been  mentioned,  from  the  facility 
with  which  domestics  acquire  a  resemblance  to  their  masters  and 
mistresses,  not  only  in  manners,  but  in  countenance,  in  those 
cases  where  they  are  tied  to  them  by  respect  and  affection. 
Husbands  and  wives  also,  where  they  possess  the  same  species 
of  face,  under  circumstances  of  mutual  attachment  often  acquire 
a  resemblance  to  each  other. 

From  the  general  detestation  in  which  hypocrisy  is  held,  both 
by  good  and  bad  men,  the  mechanical  effects  of  habit  upon 
virtue  have  not  been  sufficiently  explored.  There  are,  I  am  per- 
suaded, many  instances,  where  virtues  have  been  assumed  by 
accident  or  necessity,  which  have  become  real  from  habit,  and 
afterwards  derived  their  nourishment  from  the  heart.  Hence  the 
propriety  of  Hamlet's  advice  to  his  mother: 

"Assume  a  virtue,  if  you  have  it  not. 
That  monster,  Custom,  who  all  sense  doth  eat 
Of  habits  evil,  is  angel  yet  in  this, 
That  to  the  use  of  actions  fair  and  good 
He  likewise  gives  a  frock  or  livery, 
That  aptly  is  put  on.  Refrain  to-night, 
And  that  shall  lend  a  kind  of  easiness 
To  the  next  abstinence;  the  next  more  easy: 
For  use  can  almost  change  the  stamp  of  nature, 
And  master  even  the  devil,  or  throw  him  out, 
With  wondrous  potency." 

The  influence  of  ASSOCIATION  upon  morals  opens  an  ample 
field  for  inquiry.  It  is  from  this  principle,  that  we  explain  the 
reformation  from  theft  and  drunkenness  in  servants,  which  we 
sometimes  see  produced  by  a  draught  of  spirits,  in  which  tartar 
emetic  had  been  secretly  dissolved.  The  recollection  of  the  pain 
and  sickness  excited  by  the  emetic,  naturally  associates  itself  with 
the  spirits,  so  as  to  render  them  both  equally  the  objects  of  aver- 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          205 

sion.  It  is  by  calling  in  this  principle  only,  that  we  can  account 
for  the  conduct  of  Moses,  in  grinding  the  golden  calf  into  a 
powder,  and  afterwards  dissolving  it  (probably  by  means  of 
hcpar  sulphuris,)  in  water,  and  compelling  the  children  of  Israel 
to  drink  of  it,  as  a  punishment  for  their  idolatry.  This  mixture 
is  bitter  and  nauseating  in  the  highest  degree.  An  inclination  ro 
idolatry,  therefore,  could  not  be  felt,  without  being  associated 
with  the  remembrance  of  this  disagreeable  mixture,  and  of  course 
being  rejected,  with  equal  abhorrence.  The  benefit  of  corporal 
punishments,  when  they  are  of  a  short  duration,  depends  in  part 
upon  their  being  connected,  by  time  and  place,  with  the  crimes 
for  which  they  are  inflicted.  Quick  as  the  thunder  follows  the 
lightning,  if  it  were  possible,  should  punishments  follow  the 
crimes,  and  the  advantage  of  association  would  be  more  certain, 
if  the  spot  where  they  were  committed  were  made  the  theatre 
of  their  expiation.  It  is  from  the  effects  of  this  association,  prob- 
ably, that  the  change  of  place  and  company,  produced  by  exile 
and  transportation,  has  so  often  reclaimed  bad  men,  after  moral, 
rational,  and  physical  means  of  reformation  had  been  used  to  no 
purpose. 

As  SENSIBILITY  is  the  avenue  to  the  moral  faculty,  every  thing 
which  tends  to  diminish  it  tends  also  to  injure  morals.  The 
Romans  owed  much  of  their  corruption  to  the  sights  of  the 
contests  of  their  gladiators,  and  of  criminals,  with  wild  beasts. 
For  these  reasons,  executions  should  never  be  public.  Indeed,  I 
believe  there  are  no  public  punishments  of  any  kind,  that  do  not 
harden  the  hearts  of  spectators,  and  thereby  lessen  the  natural 
horror  which  all  crimes  at  first  excite  in  the  human  mind. 

CRUELTY  to  brute  animals  is  another  means  of  destroying 
moral  sensibility.  The  ferocity  of  savages  has  been  ascribed  in 
part  to  their  peculiar  mode  of  subsistence.  Mr.  Hogarth  points 
out,  in  his  ingenious  prints,  the  connection  between  cruelty  to 
brute  animals  in  youth,  and  murder  in  manhood.  The  emperor 
Domitian  prepared  his  mind,  by  the  amusement  of  killing  flies, 
for  all  those  bloody  crimes  which  afterwards  disgraced  his 
reign.  I  am  so  perfectly  satisfied  of  the  truth  of  a  connection 


2o6       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

between  morals  and  humanity  to  brutes,  that  I  shall  find  it  diffi- 
cult to  restrain  my  idolatry  for  that  legislature,  that  shall  first 
establish  a  system  of  laws  to  defend  them  from  outrage  and 
oppression. 

In  order  to  preserve  the  vigour  of  the  moral  faculty,  it  is  of 
the  utmost  consequence  to  keep  young  people  as  ignorant  as 
possible  of  those  crimes  that  are  generally  thought  most  dis- 
graceful to  human  nature.  Suicide,  I  believe,  is  often  propagated 
by  means  of  newspapers.  For  this  reason,  I  should  be  glad  to 
see  the  proceedings  of  our  courts  kept  from  the  public  eye, 
when  they  expose  or  punish  monstrous  vices. 

The  last  mechanical  method  of  promoting  morality  that  I 
shall  mention,  is  to  keep  sensibility  alive,  by  a  familiarity  with 
scenes  of  distress  from  poverty  and  disease.  Compassion  never 
awakens  in  the  human  bosom,  without  being  accompanied  by  a 
train  of  sister  virtues.  Hence  the  wise  man  justly  remarks,  that 
"By  the  sadness  of  the  countenance,  the  heart  is  made  better." 

A  late  French  writer  in  his  prediction  of  events  that  are  to 
happen  in  the  year  4000,  says,  "That  mankind  in  that  era  shall 
be  so  far  improved  by  religion  and  government,  that  the  sick 
and  the  dying  shall  no  longer  be  thrown,  together  with  the  dead, 
into  splendid  houses,  but  shall  be  relieved  and  protected  in  a 
connection  with  their  families  and  society."  For  the  honor  of 
humanity,  an  institution,*  destined  for  that  distant  period,  has 
lately  been  founded  in  this  city,  that  shall  perpetuate  the  year 
1786  in  the  history  of  Pennsylvania.  Here  the  feeling  heart,  the 
tearful  eye,  and  the  charitable  hand,  may  always  be  connected 
together,  and  the  flame  of  sympathy,  instead  of  being  extin- 
guished in  taxes,  or  expiring  in  a  solitary  blaze  by  a  single  con- 
tribution, may  be  kept  alive  by  constant  exercise.  There  is  a 
necessary  connection  between  animal  sympathy  and  good  morals. 
The  priest  and  the  Levite,  in  the  New  Testament,  would  prob- 
ably have  relieved  the  poor  man  who  fell  among  thieves,  had 
accident  brought  them  near  enough  to  his  wounds.  The  un- 

*  A  public  dispensary. 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          207 

fortunate  Mrs.  Bellamy  was  rescued  from  the  dreadful  purpose 
of  drowning  herself,  by  nothing  but  the  distress  of  a  child,  rend- 
ing the  air  with  its  cries  for  bread.  It  is  probably  owing,  in  some 
measure,  to  the  connection  between  good  morals  and  sympathy, 
that  the  fair  sex,  in  every  age  and  country,  have  been  more 
distinguished  for  virtue  than  men;  for  how  seldom  do  we  hear 
of  a  woman  devoid  of  humanity? 

Lastly,  ATTRACTION,  COMPOSITION,  and  DECOMPOSITION,  be- 
long to  the  passions  as  well  as  to  matter.  Vices  of  the  same 
species  attract  each  other  with  the  most  force — hence  the  bad 
consequences  of  crowding  young  men  (whose  propensities  are 
generally  the  same)  under  one  roof,  in  our  modern  plans  of  edu- 
cation. The  effects  of  composition  and  decomposition  upon 
vices,  appear  in  the  meanness  of  the  school  boy,  being  often 
cured  by  the  prodigality  of  a  military  life,  and  by  the  precipita- 
tion of  avarice,  which  is  often  produced  by  ambition  and  love.* 

If  physical  causes  influence  morals  in  the  manner  we  have 
described,  may  they  not  also  influence  religious  principles  and 
opinions? — I  answer  in  the  affirmative;  and  I  have  authority, 
from  the  records  of  physic,  as  well  as  from  my  own  observa- 
tions, to  declare,  that  religious  nlelancholy  and  madness,  in  all 
their  variety  of  species,  yield  with  more  facility  to  medicine, 
than  simply  to  polemical  discourses,  or  to  casuistical  advice.  But 
this  subject  is  foreign  to  the  business  of  the  present  inquiry. 

From  a  review  of  our  subject,  we  are  led  to  contemplate  with 
admiration,  the  curious  structure  of  the  human  mind.  How  dis- 
tinct are  the  number,  and  yet  how  united!  How  subordinate 
and  yet  how  coequal  are  all  its  faculties!  How  wonderful  is  the 
action  of  the  mind  upon  the  body!  Of  the  body  upon  the 

*  A  citizen  of  Philadelphia  had  made  many  unsuccessful  attempts  to 
cure  his  wife  of  drinking  ardent  spirits.  At  length,  despairing  of  her  ref- 
ormation, he  purchased  a  hogshead  of  rum,  and  after  tapping  it,  left  the 
key  in  the  door  where  he  had  placed  it,  as  if  he  had  forgotten  it.  His 
design  was  to  give  her  an  opportunity  of  destroying  herself,  by  drinking 
as  much  as  she  pleased.  The  woman  suspected  this  to  be  his  design — and 
suddenly  left  off  drinking.  Anger  here  became  the  antidote  of  intem- 
perance. 


2o8       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

mind! — And  of  the  divine  spirit  upon  both!  What  a  mystery  is 

the  mind  of  man  to  itself! O!  nature! Or  to  speak  more 

properly, O!   THOU  GOD  OF  NATURE! In  vain  do  we 

attempt  to  scan  THY  immensity,  or  to  comprehend  THY  various 
modes  of  existence,  when  a  single  particle  of  light  issued  from 
THYSELF,  and  kindled  into  intelligence  in  the  bosom  of  man, 
thus  dazzles  and  confounds  our  understandings! 

The  extent  of  the  moral  powers  and  habits  in  man  is  un- 
known. It  is  not  improbable,  but  the  human  mind  contains  prin- 
ciples of  virtue,  which  have  never  yet  been  excited  into  action. 
We  behold  with  surprise  the  versatility  of  the  human  body  in 
the  exploits  of  tumblers  and  rope-dancers.  Even  the  agility  of  a 
wild  beast  has  been  demonstrated  in  a  girl  of  France,  and  an 
amphibious  nature  has  been  discovered  in  the  hun\an  species,  in 
a  young  man  in  Spain.  We  listen  with  astonishment  to  the 
accounts  of  the  memories  of  Mithridates,  Cyrus,  and  Servin.  We 
feel  a  veneration  bordering  upon  divine  homage,  in  contem- 
plating the  stupendous  understandings  of  Lord  Verulam  and 
Sir  Isaac  Newton;  and  our  eyes  grow  dim,  in  attempting  to  pur- 
sue Shakspeare  and  Milton  in  their  immeasurable  flights  of 
imagination.  And  if  the  history  of  mankind  does  not  furnish 
similar  instances  of  the  versatility  and  perfection  of  our  species 
in  virtue,  it  is  because  the  moral  faculty  has  been  the  subject 
of  less  culture  and  fewer  experiments  than  the  body,  and  the 
intellectual  powers  of  the  mind.  From  what  has  been  said,  the 
reason  of  this  is  obvious.  Hitherto  the  cultivation  of  the  moral 
faculty  has  been  the  business  of  parents,  schoolmasters  and 
divines.*  But  if  the  principles,  we  have  laid  down,  be  just,  the 
improvement  and  extension  of  this  principle  should  .be  equally 

*  The  people  commonly  called  Quakers,  and  the  Methodists,  make 
use  of  the  greatest  number  of  physical  remedies  in  their  religious  and 
moral  discipline,  of  any  sects  of  Christians;  and  hence  we  find  them  every 
where  distinguished  for  their  good  morals.  There  are  several  excellent 
physical  institutions  in  other  churches;  and  if  they  do  not  produce  the 
same  moral  effects  that  we  observe  from  physical  institutions  among  those 
two  modern  sects,  it  must  be  ascribed  to  their  being  more  neglected  by 
the  members  of  those  churches. 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          209 

the  business  of  the  legislator — the  natural  philosopher — and  the 
physician;  and  a  physical  regimen  should  as  necessarily  accom- 
pany a  moral  precept,  as  directions  with  respect  to  the  air — 
exercise — and  diet,  generally  accompany  prescriptions  for  the 
consumption  and  the  gout.  To  encourage  us  to  undertake  ex- 
periments for  the  improvement  of  morals,  let  us  recollect  the 
success  of  philosophy  in  lessening  the  number,  and  mitigating 
the  violence  of  incurable  diseases.  The  intermitting  fever,  which 
proved  fatal  to  two  of  the  monarchs  of  Britain,  is  now  under 
absolute  subjection  to  medicine.  Continual  fevers  are  much  less 
fatal  than  formerly.  The  small-pox  is  disarmed  of  its  mortality 
by  inoculation,  and  even  the  tetanus  and  the  cancer  have  lately 
received  a  check  in  their  ravages  upon  mankind.  But  medicine 
has  done  more.  It  has  penetrated  the  deep  and  gloomy  abyss  of 
death,  and  acquired  fresh  honours  in  his  cold  embraces. — Wit- 
ness the  many  hundred  people  who  have  lately  been  brought 
back  to  life,  by  the  successful  efforts  of  the  humane  societies, 
which  are  now  established  in  many  parts  of  Europe,  and  in  some 
parts  of  America.  Should  the  same  industry  and  ingenuity,  which 
have  produced  these  triumphs  of  medicine  over  diseases  and 
death,  be  applied  to  the  moral  science,  it  is  highly  probable,  that 
most  of  those  baneful  vices,  which  deform  the  human  breast, 
and  convulse  the  nations  of  the  earth,  might  be  banished  from 
the  world.  I  am  not  so  sanguine  as  to  suppose,  that  it  is  possible 
for  man  to  acquire  so  much  perfection  from  science,  religion, 
liberty  and  good  government,  as  to  cease  to  be  mortal;  but  I 
am  fully  persuaded,  that  from  the  combined  action  of  causes, 
which  operate  at  once  upon  the  reason,  the  moral  faculty,  the 
passions,  the  senses,  the  brain,  the  nerves,  the  blood  and  the 
heart,  it  is  possible  to  produce  such  a  change  in  his  moral  char- 
acter, as  shall  raise  him  to  a  resemblance  of  angels — nay  more, 
to  the  likeness  of  GOD  himself.  The  state  of  Pennsylvania  still 
deplores  the  loss  of  a  man,  in  whom  not  only  reason  and  revela- 
tion, but  many  of  the  physical  causes  that  have  been  enumer- 
ated, concurred  to  produce  such  attainments  in  moral  excellency, 
as  have  seldom  appeared  in  a  human  being.  This  amiable  citizen, 


2io       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

considered  his  fellow-creature,  man,  as  God's  extract,  from  his 
own  works;  and,  whether  this  image  of  himself,  was  cut  out 
from  ebony  or  copper — whether  he  spoke  his  own  or  a  foreign 
language — or  whether  he  worshipped  his  Maker  with  cere- 
monies, or  without  them,  he  still  considered  him  as  a  brother, 
and  equally  the  object  of  his  benevolence.  Poets  and  historians, 
who  are  to  live  hereafter,  to  you  I  commit  his  panegyric;  and 
when  you  hear  of  a  law  for  abolishing  slavery  in  each  of  the 
American  states,  such  as  was  passed  in  Pennsylvania,  in  the  year 
1780 — when  you  hear  of  the  kings  and  queens  of  Europe,  pub- 
lishing edicts  for  abolishing  the  trade  in  human  souls — and  lastly, 
when  you  hear  of  schools  and  churches  with  all  the  arts  of  civi- 
lized life,  being  established  among  the  nations  of  Africa,  then 
remember  and  record,  that  this  revolution  in  favour  of  human 
happiness,  was  the  effect  of  the  labours — the  publications — the 
private  letters — and  the  prayers  of  ANTHONY  BENEZET.* 

I  return  from  this  digression,  to  address  myself  in  a  particular 
manner  to  you,  VENERABLE  SAGES  and  FELLOW-CITIZENS  in  the 
REPUBLIC  OF  LETTERS.  The  influence  of  philosophy,  we  have  been 
told,  has  already  been  felt  in  course.  To  increase,  and  complete, 
this  influence,  there  is  nothing  more  necessary,  than  for  the 

*  This  worthy  man  was  descended  from  an  ancient  and  honourable 
family  that  flourished  in  the  court  of  Louis  XIV.  With  liberal  prospects 
in  life,  he  early  devoted  himself  to  teaching  an  English  school;  in  which, 
for  industry,  capacity,  and  attention  to  the  morals  and  principles  of  the 
youth  committed  to  his  care,  he  was  without  an  equal.  He  published 
many  excellent  tracts  against  the  African  trade,  against  war,  and  the  use 
of  spirituous  liquors,  and  one  in  favour  of  civilizing  and  christianizing  the 
Indians.  He  wrote  to  the  queen  of  Great  Britain,  and  the  queen  of  Portu- 
gal, to  use  their  influence  in  their  respective  courts  to  abolish  the  African 
trade.  He  also  wrote  an  affectionate  letter  to  the  king  of  Prussia,  to 
dissuade  him  from  making  war.  The  history  of  his  life  affords  a  remark- 
able instance,  how  much  it  is  possible  for  an  individual  to  accomplish  in 
the  world;  and  that  the  most  humble  stations  do  not  preclude  good  men 
from  the  most  extensive  usefulness.  He  bequeathed  his  estate  (after  the 
death  of  his  widow),  to  the  support  of  a  school  for  the  education  of 
negro  children,  which  he  had  founded  and  taught  for  several  years  before 
he  died.  He  departed  this  life  in  May,  1784,  in  the  seventy-first  year  of 
his  age,  in  the  meridian  of  his  usefulness,  universally  lamented  by  persons 
of  all  ranks  and  denominations. 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          211 

numerous  literary  societies  in  Europe  and  America  to  add  the 
SCIENCE  OF  MORALS  to  their  experiments  and  inquiries.  The  god- 
like scheme  of  Henry  IV.  of  France,  and  of  the  illustrious  queen 
Elizabeth,  of  England,  for  establishing  a  perpetual  peace  in  Eu- 
rope, may  be  accomplished  without  a  system  of  jurisprudence, 
by  a  confederation  of  learned  men  and  learned  societies.  It  is  in 
their  power,  by  multiplying  the  objects  of  human  reason,  to 
bring  the  monarchs  and  rulers  of  the  world  under  their  sub- 
jection, and  thereby  to  extirpate  war,  slavery,  and  capital  pun- 
ishments, from  the  list  of  human  evils.  Let  it  not  be  suspected 
that  I  detract,  by  this  declaration,  from  the  honour  of  the  Chris- 
tian religion.  It  is  true,  Christianity  was  propagated  without  the 
aid  of  human  learning;  but  this  was  one  of  those  miracles,  which 
was  necessary  to  establish  it,  and  which,  by  repetition,  would 
cease  to  be  a  miracle.  They  misrepresent  the  Christian  religion, 
who  suppose  it  to  be  wholly  an  internal  revelation,  and  addressed 
only  to  the  moral  faculties  of  the  mind.  The  truths  of  Christi- 
anity afford  the  greatest  scope  for  the  human  understanding, 
and  they  will  become  intelligible  to  us,  only  in  proportion  as 
the  human  genius  is  stretched,  by  means  of  philosophy,  to  its 
utmost  dimensions.  Errors  may  be  opposed  to  errors;  but  truths, 
upon  all  subjects,  mutually  support  each  other.  And  perhaps  one 
reason  why  some  parts  of  the  Christian  revelation  are  still  in- 
volved in  obscurity,  may  be  occasioned  by  our  imperfect  knowl- 
edge of  the  phenomena  and  laws  of  nature.  The  truths  of  phi- 
losophy and  Christianity  dwell  alike  in  the  mind  of  the  Deity, 
and  reason  and  religion  are  equally  the  offspring  of  his  goodness. 
They  must,  therefore,  stand  and  fall  together.  By  reason,  in  the 
present  instance,  I  mean  the  power  of  judging  of  truth,  as  well 
as  the  power  of  comprehending  it.  Happy  era!  when  the  divine 
and  the  philosopher  shall  embrace  each  other,  and  unite  their 
labours  for  the  reformation  and  happiness  of  mankind! 


ON    THE     DIFFERENT     SPECIES 
OF     MANIA 


BY  THE  ASSISTANCE  of  Dr.  CuIIcn's  nosology,  I  perceive  that 
madness  is  divided  into  two  genera.  The  one  is  called  mania, 
which  our  author  defines  to  be  "universal  madness."  The  other 
is  called  melancholia,  which  the  doctor  defines  "to  be  "partial 
madness."  This  partial  madness  includes  six  species. — But  in  this 
number,  the  learned  professor  is  certainly  too  limited — for  if 
false  judgement  or  injudicious  conduct  upon  any  subject,  con- 
stitutes madness,  I  am  persuaded  that  that  disease  is  the  most 
frequent  of  any  that  occurs  in  the  whole  nomenclature  of  medi- 
cine. 

To  supply  the  defects  of  Dr.  Cullen's  nosology,  I  have  set 
down  a  list  of  the  different  species  of  partial  insanity,  which 
have  occurred  to  me  in  the  course  of  my  observations  upon 
mankind. — I  shall  deliver  them  in  the  language  of  our  country, 
because  I  wish  to  be  understood  by  men  of  all  classes,  and  by 
both  sexes,  although  it  would  be  easy  to  clothe  them  in  more 
technical  and  learned  terms. 

I  shall  define  madness  in  the  present  instance  to  be  a  'want 
of  perception,  or  an  undue  perception  of  truth,  duty,  or  interest. 

I  shall  begin  by  naming  some  of  those  species  of  madness 
which  at  present  prevail  in  America. 

i.  The  NEGRO  MANIA.  This  disease,  which  formerly  pre- 
vailed in  the  eastern  and  middle,  is  now  confined  chiefly  to  the 
southern  states.  The  inhabitants  of  these  states  mistake  their 
interest  and  happiness  in  supposing  that  their  lands  can  be  cul- 

212 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          213 

tivated  only  by  Negro  slaves.  The  Author  of  nature  never  des- 
tined the  natives  of  Africa  to  hard  labour,  and  hence  he  has 
made  that  part  of  the  globe  to  yield  almost  spontaneously  all 
that  is  necessary  for  the  subsistence  of  man.  There  is  no  reason 
why  rice  and  indigo  may  not  be  cultivated  by  white  men,  as  well 
as  wheat  and  indian  corn.  It  is  true,  if  the  owners  of  the  soil  in 
the  Carolinas  and  Georgia,  cultivated  their  lands  with  their  own 
hands,  they  would  not  be  able  to  roll  in  coaches,  or  to  squander 
thousands  of  pounds  yearly  in  visiting  all  the  cities  of  Europe,  but 
they  would  enjoy  more  health  and  happiness  in  a  competency 
acquired  without  violating  the  laws  of  nature  and  religion. 

2.  The  LAND  MANIA  is  a  frequent  disease  in  every  part  of 
America.  It  broke  out  with  peculiar  violence  in  most  of  the  states 
immediately  after  the  peace,  and  has  continued  to  be  more  or 
less  the  epidemic  of  our  country  ever  since.  A  room  in  a  gaol, 
instead  of  a  cell  in  an  hospital,  is  the  usual  cure  of  this  species 
of  madness. 

3.  The  HORSE  MANIA.  A  race — a  carriage— or  riding  horse 
is  often  an  object  of  greater  attachment  with  persons  who  are 
afflicted  with  this  disorder,  than  a  wife  or  a  mistress.  A  gentle- 
man once  spent  a  long  evening  with  a  company  of  these  ma- 
niacal gentlemen,  soon  after  he  had  read  the  Roman  history, 
and  unfortunately,  from  not  being  interested  in  their  conversa- 
tion, fell  into  a  reverie. — A  debate  about  the  pedigree  of  a  race 
horse  having  been  started,  one  of  the  disputants  appealed  to  him 
by  mistake,  and  said,  "Say  Tom — was  not  Jupiter  the  sire  of 
Emperor?"  "Which  of  the  Roman  emperors  do  you  mean,  Sir?" 
said  the  gentleman.  "Poh,  you  fool,"  said  his  companion,  "I  mean 
Col.  B 's  bay  horse,  Emperor." 

4.  THE  LIBERTY  MANIA.  This  disease  shews  itself  in  visionary 

•  » 

ideas  of  liberty  and  government.  It  occupies  the  time  and  talents 
so  constantly,  as  to  lead  men  to  neglect  their  families  for  the 
sake  of  taking  care  of  the  state.  Such  men  expect  liberty  without 
law — government  without  power — sovereignty  without  a  head 
— and  wars  without  expense.  They  consider  industry  and  its 
usual  consequence,  wealth,  as  the  only  evils  of  a  state,  and  ascribe 


2i4       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

Roman  attainments  in  virtue  to  those  men  only,  who,  by  consum- 
ing an  undue  proportion  of  their  time  in  writing,  talking,  or 
debating  upon  politics,  bequeath  the  maintenance  of  their  fami- 
lies to  their  country. 

5.  The  MONARCHICAL  MANIA.  All  those  people  who  believe 
that  "a  king  can  do  no  wrong,"  and  who  hold  it  to  be  criminal 
to  depose  tyrants,  are  affected  with  this  mania.  They  are  likewise 
affected  with  this  species  of  mania,  who  suppose  that  wise  and 
just  government  cannot  be  carried  on  without  kings.  A  young 
Scotch  officer  discovered  an  extraordinary  degree  of  this  mad- 
ness in  a  speech  he  made  to  an  American  prisoner  during  the 
late  American  war.  "This  is  (said  he)  the  strangest  rebellion  I 
ever  heard  of  in  au  my  life.  Ye  are  au  fighting,  and  yet  ye  have 
na  king  to  fight  for."  He  had  no  idea  that  men  had  any  property 
in  themselves,  or  that  it  was  right  for  them  to  contend,  by  arms, 
for  any  thing,  but  the  power  or  glory  of  a  king. 

6.  THE  REPUBLICAN  MANIA.  Every  man,  who  attempts  to 
introduce  a  republican  form  of  government,  where  the  people 
are  not  prepared  for  it  by  virtue  and  knowledge,  is  as  much  a 
madman  as  St.  Anthony  was,  when  he  preached  the  Gospel  to 
fishes.  We  have  a  remarkable  instance  of  this  species  of  madness 
in  a  member  of  the  Rump  Parliament,  who  objected  to  the  word 
"King"  of  heaven,  in  an  ordinance  that  was  offered  to  the  House, 
and  proposed,  as  an  amendment,  that  instead  of  the  "King" 
of  heaven,  the  phrase  should  be,  the  "parliament  of  heaven." 

7.  The  DONATION  MANIA.  All  those  people  who  impoverish 
their  families,  by  extravagant  contributions  to  public  undertak- 
ings, or  who  neglect  their  relations  at  their  death,  by  bequeath- 
ing their  estates  to  hospitals,  colleges,  and  churches,  are  affected 
with  this  species  of  madness. 

8.  The  MILITARY  MANIA. — Young  men  are  most  afflicted 
with  this  madness;  but  we  now  and  then  meet  with  it  in  an  old 
soldier,  as  in  uncle  Toby,  in  Tristram  Shandy.  It  is  impossible 
to  understand  a  conversation  with  these  gentlemen  without  the 
help  of  a  military  dictionary. — Counterscarps,  morasses,  fosses, 
glacis,  ramparts,  redoubts,  abbatis,  &c.  form  the  beginning,  mid- 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          215 

die,  and  end  of  every  sentence.  They  remember  nothing  in  his- 
tory, but  the  detail  of  sieges  and  battles,  and  they  consider  men 
as  rrfade  only  to  carry  muskets.  The  adventurers  in  the  holy 
wars,  before  the  Reformation,  were  all  infected  with  this  species 
of  military  madness. 

9.  The  DUELLING  MANIA.  There  are  some  men,  whose  ideas 
of  honour  amount  to  madness;  hence  every  attack  upon  their 
character,  whether  true  or  false,  can  be  expiated  only  by  a  duel. 
The  madness  of  this  passion  appears  in  this,  that  a  good  char- 
acter stands  in  no  need  of  a  pistol  or  sword  to  defend  it,  nor 
can  a  bad  character  be  supported  by  a  whole  park  of  artillery. 

10.  THE  HUNTING  MANIA.  A  mad  man  in  England  was  or- 
dered by  his  physician  to  use  the  cold  bath.  In  returning  one 
day  from  the  bath,  he  stopped  to  converse  with  a  servant,  who 
was  following  his  master  to  the  place  appointed  for  a  fox-chase. 
The  madman  asked  the  servant  how  much  it  cost  his  master 
to  maintain  his  horses  and  hounds?  The  servant  replied  £.500 
a  year.  And  how  much  does  he  sell  his  foxes  for  after  he  catches 
them? — "For  nothing  at  all,"  said  the  servant. — "For  nothing!" 
said   the   madman  with   astonishment — "I   wish   my   physician 
could  come  across  him — he  would  soon  order  him  to  use  the 
cold  bath." 

1 1 .  The  GAMING  MANIA.  This  disorder  seizes  gentlemen  in 
some  instances  before  breakfast  in  the  morning,  and  continues, 
with  only  short  intervals  for  meals,  till  n  o'clock  at  night.  It 
affects  some  people  in  the  night  as  well  as  the  day,  and  on 
Sundays  as  well  as  week  days.  Its  operation  is  not  confined  to 
the  fire-side:  it  appears  on  the  public  roads — at  courts — elections 
— and  even  at  places  of  public  worship.  It  is  impossible  for  two 
gentlemen,  afflicted  with  this  madness,  to  meet  on  horseback, 
without  laying  a  wager  upon  the  gaits,  whether  of  running, 
pacing,  or  trotting,  of  their  respective  horses.  This  madness  is 
of  a  destructive  tendency,  and  often  conducts  persons  afflicted 
with  it  to  poverty,  imprisonment,  and  an  ignominious  death. 

12.  The  MACHINE  MANIA.  This  species  includes  all  those 
maniacs,  who  have  ruined  themselves  by  castle-building,  whether 


216       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

the  objects  of  their  schemes  have  been  perpetual  motion,  or 
princely  fortunes,  to  be  raised  by  a  sudden  exertion  of  the 
mechanical  powers. 

13.  The  ALCHEMICAL  MANIA.  The  objects  with  the  persons 
afflicted  with  this  disorder  are,  the  art  of  converting  base  metals 
into  gold,  and  an  elixir,  the  property  of  which  shall  be,  to  restore 
the  duration  of  human  life  to  its  antediluvian  extent.  This  species 
of  madness  has  lessened  within  these  thirty  years,  owing  to  the 
discoveries  which  have  been  made  in  the  principles  of  general 
science,  and  particularly  of  chemistry.  I  once  met  with  a  man 
who  charmed  me  with  his  profound  and  extensive  learning  upon 
every  topic,  till  alchemy  became  the  subject  of  conversation; 
when  he  suddenly  broke  out  in  praise  of  an  elixir,  discovered, 
he  said,  in  India,  which  had  preserved  a  Jew  aliye,  above  1800 
years.  This  Jew,  he  said,  was  present  at  the  trial  and  crucifixion 
of  the  Saviour  of  the  world.  He  was  so  confident  of  the  truth 
of  what  he  asserted,  that  he  seemed  offended  at  the  cold  manner 
in  which  I  appeared  to  assent  to  his  story. 

14.  The  VIRTUOSO  MANIA.  In  this  species  of  madness  I  in- 
clude an  extravagant  fondness  for  the  monstrous  and  rare  pro- 
ductions of  nature  and  art.  It  is  widely  different  from  a  well- 
regulated  passion  for  the  objects  of  natural  history.  Distorted 
shells — petrified  toads — Indian  pipes — expensive  coins,  &c.  &c. 
form  the  collections  of  this  species  of  madmen.  The  English 
gentleman  who  gave  one  hundred  guineas  for  the  stopper  of  a 
vinegar  cruet  dug  out  of  the  Herculaneum,  and  the  English 
Marquis  who  gave  three  hundred  guineas  for  one  of  Queen 
Elizabeth's    farthings,    were    deeply    affected    with    this   mad- 
ness. 

15.  The  RAMBLING  MANIA.  This  species  of  madness  includes 
all  those  people  who  are  perpetually  changing  their  country — 
houses — or  occupations,  and  who  are  always  praising  the  absent, 
and  abusing  the  present  good  things  of  life.  I  have  known  sev- 
eral men  afflicted  with  this  disease,  who  have  settled  and  un- 
settled themselves  in  half  the  kingdoms  of  Europe,  and  in  one 
third  of  the  states  of  America.  These  men  are  in  general  useless 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          217 

to  their  families,  and  to  society,  and  often  end  their  days  in 
dependence  and  poverty. 

1 6.  The  ECCLESIASTICAL  MANIA.  This  species  of  madness  in- 
cludes bigots  of  all  denominations.  The  late  Dr.  Johnson  was  a 
striking  example  of  Episcopal  madness.  The  minister  of  the 
church  of  Scotland,  who  daily  drank  at  his  table  the  "glorious 
memory  of  Jenny  Geddes,  who  threw  the  stool  at  the  bishop," 
was  likewise  affected  with  it. 

17.  The  NATIONAL  MANIA.  This  disease  is  very  common  in 
Great  Britain  and  France.  The  late  Lord  Chatham  was  affected 
with  it.  The  very  name  of  Bourbon  quickened  his  pulse  with 
resentment,  and  he  fainted  at  the  idea  of  American  independence. 
The  Antigallican  society  in  London,  is  the  offspring  of  this 
madness. 

1 8.  The  LOVE  MANIA.  All  marriages,  without  a  visible  or  prob- 
able means  of  subsistence,  are  founded  in  madness.  All  premature 
attachments  between  the  sexes  which  obstruct  the  pursuits  of 
business,  are  likewise  the  offspring  of  the  love  mania.  The  ex- 
penses of  a  family,  like  a  blistering  plaster  between  the  shoulders, 
never  fail  of  curing  this  species  of  madness. 

19.  The  PRIDE  MANIA.  Every  man  who  values  himself  upon 
his  birth — titles,  or  wealth,  more  than  upon  merit,  is  affected 
with  this  madness.  It  is  a  most  loathsome  disorder.  I  have  heard 
of  a  nostrum  which  seldom  fails  of  curing  it,  and  that  is,  to  treat 
it  with  contempt.  Mordqcai  made  Hainan  miserable  in  the  sun- 
shine of  a  court,  only  by  refusing  to  pull  off  his  hat  to  him. 

20.  The  DRESS  MANIA.  Let  not  curiosity  lead  us  to  Bedlam 
or  the  cells  of  an  hospital  to  see  madmen  or  mad-women.  Every 
place  of  public  resort — nay,  every  street  of  our  city  is  filled 
with  them.  A.  B.  demands  a  court  of  enquiry  to  prove  the 
insanity  of  his  sister,  in  order  to  sequester  her  estate.  What  has 
she  done?  says  the  court.  Why  look  at  her  hat — her  craw — and 
her  bishop! — Do  they  not  proclaim  her  madness?  Nor  is  this 
all — To  lessen  the  inconveniences  of  those  articles  of  dress, 
she  has  altered  her  carriage — raised  the  doors  of  her  chambers — 
and  enlarged  the  bottoms  of  every  chair  in  her  house. — Do,  good 


218       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

gentlemen,  issue  a  statute  of  lunacy  against  her,  or  she  will  come 
upon  the  township,  or  end  her  days  in  the  bettering-house. 

21.  The  PLEASURE  MANIA.  An  attachment  to  balls — to  the 
stage — or  to  feeding — dancing — sleighing — and  card  parties — 
or  to  any  other  amusement  to  the  exclusion  of  business,  or  the 
injury  of  fortune  or  health,  may  justly  be  considered  as  a  species 
of  madness.  I  once  saw  a  caricature  of  a  young  lady  going  in  a 
sedan  chair  through  a  street  in  London.  On  one  side  of  the  chair 
a  physician  walked  with  a  smelling  bottle  in  his  hand;  on  the 
other,  a  young  macaroni  with  a  fan  in  his  hand.  The  young  lady, 
upon  seeing  one  of  her  acquaintances  pass  her,  cried  out,  "I'm 
a  going" — uyes,  my  dear,"  said  her  acquaintance,  "you  look  as* 
if  you  had  not  a  day  to  live"; — uyou  mistake  me,"  said  the 
sickly  pleasure-worn  lady,  "I  am  going — not  to  my  grave, — 
but  to  Ranelagh."  Nor  is  this  pleasure  mania  confined  to  the 
female  sex.  The  gentleman  in  London,  who  left  his  wife  in  the 
last  stage  of  a  fever,  and  charged  his  servant  not  to  send  for  him 
from  a  club,  unless  his  mistress  should  die  in  his  absence,  cer- 
tainly laboured  under  uncommon  degrees  of  this  species  of 
madness. 

22.  The  ROGUE  MANIA.  There  are  some  men  whose  rage 
against  oppression — fraud — and  injustice   of  every  kind,  rises 
so  high,  as  to  constitute  a  species  of  madness.  Such  men  often 
expose  themselves  to  ridicule  and  injury,  by  attempting  to  detect 
and  expose  culprits — speculators — and  public  defaulters,  without 
considering  that  such  men  are  often  the  best  supporters  of  parties, 
and  in  some  instances  of  governments,  from  each  of  whom  they 
will  always  be  sure  to  meet  with  protection.  I  once  knew  a  man 
who  rose  from  table  in  a  large  company,  and  walked  across  the 
floor,  stamping  and  swearing  in  a  fit  of  insanity,  upon  hearing 
a  gentleman  say  a  few  words  in  favour  of  the  slave  trade.  His 
host,  a  sensible  Scotchman,  brought  him  to  his  senses  by  a  very 
simple  rebuke — "Hod  hod  man — you  conno  put  the  world  to 
rights — come — tak  your  soup." 

23.  The  HUMANE  MANIA. — Strange! — that  an  excess  of  hu- 
manity should  often  produce  those  irregularities  in  behaviour 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          219 

and  conduct,  which  constitute  madness!  Dr.  Goldsmith  has,  with 
great  ingenuity,  described  this  species  of  madness  in  his  comedy 
of  the  good  natured  man.  Persons  afflicted  with  this  madness, 
feel  for  every  species  of  distress,  and  seem  to  pour  forth  tears 
upon  some  occasions,  from  every  pore  of  their  bodies.  Their 
souls  vibrate  in  unison  with  every  touch  of  misery,  that  affects 
any  member  of  the  great  family  of  mankind.  Gracious  heaven! 
if  ever  I  should  be  visited  with  this  species  of  madness,  however 
much  it  may  expose  me  to  ridicule  or  resentment,  my  constant 
prayer  to  the  divine  fountain  of  justice  and  pity — shall  be,  that 
I  may  never  be  cured  of  it. 

To  these  species  I  might  add, 

24.  The  MUSICAL, 

25.  POETICAL,  and 

26.  MATHEMATICAL  MANIAS. — But  these  are  so  Common  and 
well  known,  that  it  will  not  be  necessary  to  describv  them. 

Upon  a  review  of  this  essay,  it  will  appear,  that  .  very  man 
is  mad,  according  to  Linnaeus,  upon  some  subject,  or,  to  quote 
a  higher  authority,  that  "madness  is  in  their  hearts  wl/le  they 
live,  and  after  that,  they  go  to  the  dead." 

How  great  are  our  obligations  to  Christianity,  whic.  ,  by 
enlightening — directing — and  regulating  our  judgments — WL'S — 
and  passions,  in  the  knowledge — choice — and  pursuit  of  duty  — 
truth  and  interest,  restores  us  to  what  the  apostle  very  emphati- 
cally calls  "a  sound  mind." 


ON     THE      DIFFERENT     SPECIES 
OF     PHOBIA 


DR.  CULLEN  has  divided  the  Hydrophobia  into  two  species.  The 
principal  species  that  disease  which  is  communicated  by  the  bite 
of  a  mad  animal,  and  which  is  accompanied  with  a  dread  of 
water.  Without  detracting  from  the  merit  of  Dr.  Cullen,  I  can- 
not help  thinking  that  the  genus  of  the  disease  which  he  has 
named  Hydrophobia,  should  have  been  PHOBIA,  and  that  number, 
and  names  of  the  species,  should  have  been  taken  from  the  names 
of  the  objects  of  fear  or  aversion.  In  conformity  to  this  idea,  I 
shall  define  Phobia  to  be  "a  fear  of  an  imaginary  evil,  or  an  undue 
fear  of  a  real  one."  The  following  species  appear  to  belong  to  it. 

1.  The  CAT  PHOBIA.  It  will  be  unnecessary  to  mention  in- 
stances of  the  prevalence  of  this  distemper.  I  know  several  gen- 
tlemen of  unquestionable  courage,  who  have  retreated  a  thousand 
times  from  the  sight  of  a  cat;  and  who  have  even  discovered  signs 
of  fear  and  terror  upon  being  confined  in  a  room  with  a  cat 
that  was  out  of  sight. 

2.  The  RAT  PHOBIA  is  a  more  common  disease  than  the  first 
species  that  has  been  mentioned:  It  is  peculiar,  in  some  measure, 
to  the  female  sex.  I  know  several  ladies  who  never  fail  to  discover 
their  terror  by  screaming  at  the  sight  of  a  rat;  and  who  cannot 
even  sleep  within  the  noise  of  that  animal. 

3 .  The  INSECT  PHOBIA.  This  disease  is  peculiar  to  the  female 
sex.  A  spider — a  flea — or  a  mosquito  alighting  upon  a  lady's  neck, 
has  often  produced  an  hysterical  fit.  To  compensate  for  this 
defect,  in  the  constitutions  of  certain  ladies,  nature  has  kindly 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          221 

endowed  them  with  the  highest  degree  of  courage,  with  respect 
to  the  great  object  of  religious  fear.  They  dare  "provoke  even 
Omnipotence  to  arms,"  by  irreverently  taking  his  name  in  vain 
in  common  conversation.  Hence  our  ears  are  often  grated  by 
those  ladies,  with  the  exclamations  of  "Good  God!" — "God  pre- 
serve me!" — "O  Lord!"  &c.  &c.  upon  the  most  trifling  occasions. 
Dr.  Young  seems  to  have  had  this  species  of  Insect  Phobia  in  his 
eye,  when  he  cries  out, 

"Say,  O!  my  Muse — say  whence  such  boldness  springs, — 
Such  daring  courage — in  such  tim'rous  things? 
Start  from  a  feather — from  an  insect  fly — 
A  match  for  nothing — but,  the  Deity!" 

4.  The  ODOR  PHOBIA  is  a  very  frequent  disease  with  all  classes 
of  people.  There  are  few  men  or  women  to  whom  smells  of  some 
kind  are  not  disagreeable.  Old  cheese  has  often  produced  paleness 
and  tremor  in  a  full  fed  guest.  There  are  odors  from  certain 
flowers  that  produce  the  same  effects:  hence  it  is  not  altogether 
a  figure  to  say,  that  there  are  persons  who  "die  of  a  rose  in 
aromatic  pain." 

5.  The  DIRT  PHOBIA.  This  disease  is  peculiar  to  certain 
ladies,  especially  to  such  as  are  of  low  Dutch  extraction.  They 
make  every  body  miserable  around  them  with  their  excessive 
cleanliness:  the  whole  of  their  lives  is  one  continued  warfare 
with  dirt — their  rooms  resound  at  all  hours  with  the  noise  of 
scrubbing  brushes,  and  their  entries  are  obstructed  three  times  a 
week,  with  tubs  and  buckets.  I  have  heard  of  women,  afflicted 
with  this  disease,  who  sat  constantly  in  their  kitchens,  lest  they 
should  dirty  their  parlours.  I  once  saw  one  of  those  women  in 
New-Jersey,  fall  down  upon  her  knees,  with  a  house  cloth  in 
her  hand,  and  wipe  away  such  of  the  liquid  parts  of  the  food  as 
fell  upon  the  floor  from  a  company  of  gentlemen,  that  dined 
in  her  house;  muttering,  at  the  same  time,  the  most  terrible  com- 
plaints, in  low  Dutch  of  the  beastly  manners  of  her  guests.  I  have 
heard  of  a  woman  in  the  same  state,  who  never  received  a  visit 


222       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

from  any  persons  who  did  not  leave  their  shoes  at  her  door  in 
muddy  weather.  She  always  had  a  pair  of  slippers  placed  at  the 
door,  for  her  visitors  to  put  on,  till  their  shoes  were  cleaned  by 
a  servant. 

6.  The  RUM  PHOBIA  is  a  very  rare  distemper.  I  have  known 
only  five  instances  of  it  in  the  course  of  my  life.  The  smell  of 
rum,  and  of  spirituous  liquors  of  all  kinds,  produced  upon  these 
persons,  sickness  and  distress.  If  it  were  possible  to  communicate 
this  distemper  as  we  do  the  small-pox,  by  inoculation,  what  an 
immense  revenue  would  be  derived  from  it  by  physicians,  pro- 
vided every  person  in  our  country  who  is  addicted  to  the  in- 
temperate use  of  spirits,  were  compelled  to  submit  to  that  opera- 
tion! 

7.  The  WATER  PHOBIA.  This  species  includes  jiot  the  dread 
of  swallowing,  but  of  crossing  water.  I  have  known  some  people, 
who  sweat  with  terror  in  crossing  an  ordinary  ferry.  Peter  the 
Great  of  Muscovy  laboured  under  this  disease  in  early  life.  As  a 
variety  of  this  species  of  Water  Phobia,  may  be  considered  that 
aversion  from  drinking  water,  which  we  sometimes  observe  in 
some  men,  without  being  accompanied  with  a  similar  dislike  to 
artificial  liquors.  I  recollect  once  to  have  heard  of  a  physician 
in  this  city,  who  told  a  gentleman  that  was  afflicted  with  a  dropsy, 
just  before  he  tapped  him,  that  he  expected  to  draw  off  not  less 
than  three  gallons  of  water  from  him — "Of  ivine  you  mean, 
doctor,  said  he;  for  I  have  not  drank  that  quantity  of  'water  these 
twenty  years." 

8.  The  SOLO  PHOBIA;  by  which  I  mean  the  dread  of  solitude. 
This  distemper  is  peculiar  to  persons  of  vacant  minds,  and  guilty 
consciences.  Such  people  cannot  bear  to  be  alone,  especially  if 
the  horror  of  sickness  is  added'  to  the  pain  of  attempting  to  think, 
or  to  the  terror  of  thinking. 

9.  The  POWER  PHOBIA.  This  distemper  belongs  to  certain 
demagogues.  Persons  afflicted  with  it,  consider  power  as  an  evil — 
they  abhor  even  the  sight  of  an  officer  of  government. 

10.  The  FACTION  PHOBIA.  This  disease  is  peculiar  to  persons 
of  an  opposite  character  to  those  who  are  afraid  of  power.  It 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          223 

discovers  itself  in  undue  fears  of  mobs,  insurrections,  and  such 
other  things  as  may  affect  the  order  and  stability  of  governments. 

1 1.  The  WANT  PHOBIA.  This  disease  is  confined  chiefly  to  old 
people.  It  is  not  the  father  of  Tristram  Shandy  alone  who  wipes 
the  sweat  from  his  face,  and  examines  both  sides  of  a  guinea  every 
time  he  pays  it  away.  There  are  few  old  men  who  part  with 
money  without  feeling  some  of  the  symptoms  of  an  intermitting 
fever.  This  distemper  has  arisen  to  such  a  height,  as  to  furnish 
the  most  entertaining  and  ludicrous  scenes  in  plays  and  novels. 
I  have  heard  of  an  old  gentleman  in  London,  who  had  above 
£.20,000  in  the  funds,  who  sold  a  valuable  library  a  year  or  two 
before  he  died;  and  gave  as  a  reason  for  it,  that  he  was  afraid  he 
should  not  have  enough  to  bury  him  without  making  that  addi- 
tion to  his  fortune. 

12.  The  DOCTOR  PHOBIA.  This  distemper  is  often  complicated 
with  other  diseases.  It  arises,  in  some  instances,  from  the  dread 
of  taking  physic,  or  of  submitting  to  the  remedies  of  bleeding 
and  blistering.  In  some  instances  I  have  known  it  occasioned  by 
a  desire  sick  people  feel  of  deceiving  themselves,  by  being  kept 
in  ignorance  of  the  danger  of  their  disorders.  It  might  be  sup- 
posed, that,  "the  dread  of  a  long  bill"  was  one  cause  of  the  Doc- 
tor Phobia;  but  this  excites  terror  in  the  minds  of  but  few  people: 
for  who  ever  thinks  of  paying  a  doctor,  while  he  can  use  his 
money  to  advantage  in  another  way!  It  is  remarkable  this  Doc- 
tor Phobia  always  goes  off  as  soon  as  a  patient  is  sensible  of  his 
danger.  The  doctor,  then,  becomes  an  object  of  respect  and 
attachment,  instead  of  horror. 

13.  The  BLOOD  PHOBIA.  There  is  a  native  dread  of  the  sight 
of  blood  in  every  human  creature,  implanted  probably  for  the 
wise  purpose  of  preventing  our  injuring  or  destroying  ourselves, 
or  others.  Children  cry  oftener  from  seeing  their  blood,  than 
from  the  pain  occasioned  by  falls  or  blows.  Valuable  medicines 
are  stamped  with  a  disagreeable  taste  to  prevent  their  becoming 
ineffectual  from  habit,  by  being  used  as  condiments  or  articles 
of  diet.  In  like  manner,  Blood-letting  as  a  remedy,  is  defended 
from  being  used  improperly,  by  the  terror  which  accompajuos 


224       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

its  use.  This  terror  rises  to  such  a  degree  as  sometimes  to  produce 
paleness  and  faintness  when  it  is  prescribed  as  a  remedy.  How- 
ever unpopular  it  may  be,  it  is  not  contrary  to  nature,  for  she 
relieves  herself  when  oppressed,  by  spontaneous  discharges  of 
blood  from  the  nos£,  and  other  parts  of  the  body.  The  objections 
to  it  therefore  appear  to  be  founded  less  in  the  judgments  than 
in  the  fears  of  sick  people. 

14.  The  THUNDER  PHOBIA.  This  species  is  common  to  all 
ages,  and  to  both  sexes:  I  have  seen  it  produce  the  most  distressing 
appearances  and  emotions  upon  many  people.  I  know  a  man, 
whom  the  sight  of  a  black  cloud  in  the  morning,  in  the  season 
of  thunder-gusts,  never  fails  to  make  melancholy  during  the 
whole  of  the  ensuing  day. 

15.  The  HOME  PHOBIA.  This  disease  belongs  tq  all  those  men 
who  prefer  tavern,  to  domestic  society,  and  to  all  those  women 
who  spend  the  principal  part  qf  their  time  in  morning,  and  after- 
noon visits,  or  in  long  evening  parties,  at  the  theatre,  or  in  tumul- 
tuous meetings  of  any  kind. 

1 6.  The  CHURCH  PHOBIA.  This  disease  has  become  epidemic 
in  the  city  of  Philadelphia:  hence  we  find  half  the  city  flying 
in  chariots,  phaetons,  chairs,  and  even  stage- waggons,  as  well  as 
on  horse-back,  from  the  churches,  every  Sunday  in  summer,  as 
soon  as  they  are  opened  for  divine  worship.  In  the  winter,  when 
it  is  more  difficult  to  escape  the  horror  of  looking  into  an  open 
church,  we  observe  our  citizens  drowning  their  fear  of  the 
church,  in  plentiful  entertainments.  A  short  story  will  shew  the 
prevalence  of  this  distemper  in  Philadelphia.  The  Sunday  after 
the  inhabitants  of  Charleston  arrived  here,  during  the  late  war, 
they  assembled  to  worship  God  in  one  of  our  churches.  A  young 
lady  (one  of  the  company)  was  surprised  at  seeing  no  faces  but 
such  as  had  been  familiar  to  her  in  her  own  state,  in  the  church, 
but  very  kindly  ascribed  it  to  the  politeness  of  the  ladies  and 
gentlemen  of  Philadelphia,  who  had  that  day  given  up  their 
seats  to  accommodate  the  Carolina  strangers. 

17.  The  GHOST  PHOBIA.  This  distemper  is  most  common 
among  servants  and  children.  It  manifests  itself  chiefly  in  passing 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          225 

by  grave-yards,  and  old  empty  houses.  I  have  heard  of  a  few  in- 
stances of  grown  people,  and  of  men  of  cultivated  understand- 
ings, who  have  been  afflicted  with  this  species  of  Phobia.  Physi- 
cians who  have  sacrificed  the  lives  of  their  patients  through  care- 
lessness, rashness,  or  ignorance; — as  also  witnesses  who  have  con- 
victed by  their  evidence — judges  who  have  condemned  by  their 
influence — and  kings  and  governors  who  have  executed  by  their 
power,  innocent  persons,  through  prejudice  or  resentment,  are 
all  deeply  affected  with  the  Ghost  Phobia.  Generals  of  armies 
and  military  butchers,  who  make  war  only  to  gratify  ambition 
or  avarice,  are  likewise  subject  to  paroxysms  of  this  disorder. 
The  late  King  of  Prussia,  upon  a  certain  occasion,  abused  his 
guards  most  intemperately,  for  conducting  him  from  a  review 
through  a  grave-yard.  The  reflection  on  the  number  of  men 
whom  his  power  and  sword  had  consigned  to  the  mansions  of 
death,  produced  in  his  majesty,  this  Ghost  Phobia  in  all  its 
horrors. 

1 8.  The  DEATH  PHOBIA.  The  fear  of  death  is  natural  to  man 
— but  there  are  degrees  of  it  which  constitute  a  disease.  It  pre- 
vails chiefly  among  the  rich — the  luxurious — and  the  profane.  A 
man  of  pleasure  in  the  city  of  New- York,  used  frequently  to  say 
in  his  convivial  moments,  that  "this  world  would  be  a  most  de- 
lightful place  to  live  in,  if  it  were  not  for  that  cursed  thing  called 
death — it  comes  in  and  spoils  all."  The  late  King  of  Prussia 
always  concealed  his  occasional  indispositions  from  his  subjects, 
lest  he  should  be  led  after  them  to  connect  the  idea  of  his  sickness 
with  that  of  his  death.  I  have  heard  of  a  man,  who  possessed  this 
Death  Phobia  in  so  high  a  degree,  that  he  never  would  see  his 
friends  when  they  were  sick — avoided  seeing  funerals — and, 
upon  one  occasion,  threatened  to  kick  a  sexton  of  a  church  out 
of  his  house,  for  inviting  him  to  the  burial  of  one  of  his  neigh- 
bours.  It  is  remarkable,  that  even  old  age,  with  all  its  in- 
firmities, will  not  subdue  this  disease  in  some  people.  The  late 
Dr.  Johnson  discovered  the  most  unphilosophical  as  well  as  un- 
Christian  fear  of  dying,  in  the  73d  year  of  his  age:  and  the  late 
Dr.  P ,  after  having  lived  84  years,  went  from  Edinburgh 


226       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

to  Padua  in  Italy,  in  order,  by  exercise  and  a  change  of  climate, 
to  protract  the  hour  of  his  dissolution. 

For  these  maladies  of  the  mind,  there  are  two  infallible  reme- 
dies, viz.  reason  and  religion.  The  former  is  the  sure  antidote  of 
such  of  them  as  originate  in  folly, — while  the  latter  is  effectual 
in  those  species,  which  are  derived  from  vice.  "I  fear  God  (said 
Pascal)  and  therefore  I  have  no  other  fear." — A  belief  in  God's 
providence,  and  a  constant  reliance  upon  his  power  and  good- 
ness, impart  a  composure  and  firmness  to  the  mind  which  render 
it  incapable  of  being  moved  by  all  the  real,  or  imaginary  evils 
of  life. 


THE     PROGRESS     OF     MEDICINE 

A  Lecture 


THE  IMPERFECTION  of  medicine  is  a  common  subject  of  com- 
plaint, by  the  enemies  of  our  profession.  It  has  been  admitted 
by  physicians.  The  design  of  this  lecture  is,  to  enumerate  the 
causes  which  have  retarded  its  progress;  and  to  point  out  the 
means  of  promoting  its  certainty,  and  greater  usefulness.  The 
subject  is  an  interesting  one,  and  highly  proper  as  an  intro- 
duction to  a  course  of  lectures  upon  the  institutes  and  practice 
of  medicine.  I  shall  begin  by  briefly  enumerating  the  causes 
which  have  retarded  the  progress  of  our  science. 

i  st.  The  first  cause,  that  I  shall  mention  is,  connecting  it 
with  such  branches  of  knowledge,  as  have  but  a  slender  relation 
to  it.  What  affinity  have  the  abstruse  branches  of  mathematics 
with  medicine?  and  yet,  years  have  been  spent  in  the  study  of 
that  science  by  physicians;  and  volumes  have  been  written  to 
explain  the  functions  of  the  body,  by  mathematical  demonstra- 
tions. 

id.  The  neglect  to  cultivate  those  branches  of  science, 
which  are  most  intimately  connected  with  medicine.  These  are 
chiefly,  Natural  History,  and  Metaphysics.  In  the  former,  I 
include,  not  only  botany,  zoology,  and  fossiology,  but  com- 
parative anatomy  and  physiology.  In  the  latter,  I  include  a  sim- 
ple history  of  the  faculties  and  operations  of  the  mind,  uncon- 
nected with  the  ancient  nomenclature  of  words  and  phrases, 
which  once  constituted  the  science  of  metaphysics. 

3d.  The  publication  of  systems  and  discoveries  in  medicine 

227 


228       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

in  the  Latin  language.  Our  science  is  interesting  to  all  mankind; 
but  by  locking  it  up  in  a  dead  language,  which  is  but  partially 
known,  we  have  prevented  its  associating  with  other  sciences, 
and  precluded  it  from  attracting  the  notice  and  support  of  in- 
genious men  of  other  professions.  While  the  study  of  chemistry 
was  confined  exclusively  to  physicians,  it  was  limited  in  its  ob- 
jects, and  nearly  destitute  of  principles.  It  was  from  the  labora- 
tories of  private  gentlemen,  and  particularly  of  Priestley,  Cav- 
endish, and  Lavoisier,  that  those  great  discoveries  have  issued, 
which  have  exalted  chemistry  to  its  present  rank  and  usefulness 
among  the  sciences.  The  same  remark  applied  to  agriculture  and 
manufactures,  while  they  were  carried  on  by  the  daily  labor  of 
men  who  derived  their  subsistence  from  them:  It  is  only  since 
they  have  become  a  part  of  the  studies  and  employment  of 
speculative  men  of  general  knowledge,  that  they  constitute 
the  basis  of  individual  and  national  prosperity  and  independ- 
ence. 

4th.  An  undue  attachment  to  great  names.  Hippocrates, 
Galen,  and  Aneteus,  among  the  ancients;  Boerhaave,  Cullen,  and 
Brown,  among  the  moderns;  have  all,  in  their  turns,  established 
a  despotism  in  medicine,  by  the  popularity  of  their  names,  which 
has  imposed  a  restraint  upon  free  inquiry,  and  thereby  checked 
the  progress  of  medicine,  particularly  in  the  ages  and  countries, 
in  which  they  have  lived. 

5th.  An  undue  attachment  to  unsuccessful,  but  fashionable, 
modes  of  practice.  Where  a  medicine  does  not  genially  cure  a 
disease,  in  its  recent  state,  it  is  either  an  improper  remedy,  or  it 
is  given  at  an  improper  time,  or  in  an  improper  quantity.  In  such 
cases,  a  mode  of  practice,  directly  opposed  to  the  former  one, 
has  sometimes  proved  successful.  This  occurred  in  a  remarkable 
manner,  when  cool  air  and  cold  drinks  succeeded  the  hot  regi- 
men, in  the  treatment  of  the  smallpox.  The  same  happy  effects 
have  attended  the  use  of  bleeding  in  the  inflammatory  state  of 
the  dropsy,  after  stimulating  medicines  had  been  give  to  cure  it, 
for  many  years  to  no  purpose. 

6th.  Indolence  and  credulity  in  admitting  things  to  be  true, 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          229 

without  sufficient  examination.  The  acrid  humors  of  Boerhaave 
would  not  have  prevailed  so  long  in  our  systems  of  pathology, 
had  the  blood  been  sooner  subjected  to  a  natural  and  chemical 
analysis;  nor  would  a  belief  in  the  specific  nature  of  the  plague, 
or  the  competency  of  quarantines  to  prevent  the  importation 
of  the  yellow  fever,  have  been  so  universal,  in  the  beginning 
of  the  nineteenth  century,  had  the  facts,  which  are  numerous 
and  plain  upon  those  subjects,  received  a  faithful  and  candid 
investigation. 

7th.  Neglect  in  recording  the  rise,  progress,  and  symptoms 
of  epidemic  diseases,  and  of  certain  circumstances  essentially 
connected  with  them.  The  loss  which  our  science  has  sustained 
from  the  want  of  regular  and  connected  histories  of  epidemics, 
may  be  estimated  by  the  value  of  the  knowledge  which  it  has 
gained  from  the  writings  of  Ballonius  and  Riverius  in  France, 
and  of  Sydenham,  Wintringham,  and  I  luxham,  in  Great  Britain. 
The  yellow  fever  has  prevailed,  in  this  city,  four  times  between 
the  years  1699  and  1793;  and  yet  no  history  of  its  origin,  symp- 
toms, or  treatment,  has  been  left  to  us  by  any  of  the  physicians 
who  witnessed  it;  nor  is  there  any  record  but  one,  of  the  times 
of  its  appearance,  to  be  found,  except  in  the  letter-books  of 
merchants,  and  in  ancient  newspapers.  Had  our  ancestors  in 
medicine  transmitted  to  us  the  history  of  that  epidemic,  with 
an  account  of  the  diseases  which  preceded  it,  and  of  the  changes 
in  the  air,  and  in  the  animal  and  vegetable  kingdoms,  with  which 
it  was  accompanied,  it  is  probable,  we  might  have  predicted  the 
malignant  constitution  of  the  atmosphere  that  produced  the 
fevers  of  1793,  and  of  subsequent, years,  and  by  removing  the 
filth  of  our  cities,  have  thereby  prevented  them.  Upon  this  sub- 
ject, it  may  be  added,  that  it  is  by  studying  diseases  as  they 
have  appeared,  in  different  countries,  and  in  different  years, 
that  we  shall  be  able  to  understand  and  cure  them,  much  better 
than  by  reading  abstract  treatises  upon  them  in  systems  of 
medicine,  in  which  no  notice  is  taken  of  their  relations  to  time 
and  place.  Dr.  Cleghorn's  Account  of  the  Diseases  of  Minorca, 
has  outlived  many  hundred  publications  upon  the  diseases  which 


2  3o       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

he  has  described.  Such  excellent  books  owe  their  duration  and 
fame  to  the  difference  which  they  mark  in  the  symptoms  and 
mode  of  cure  of  diseases  in  different  countries,  and  in  successive 
years.  Even  the  signs  of  life  and  death,  are  varied  by  both  those 
circumstances.  In  a  malignant  fever,  which  prevailed  at  Cuneum, 
in  the  years  1778,  and  1784,  a  mortification  in  the  extremity  of 
the  spine  and  buttocks,  was  always  the  sign  of  a  recovery;  while 
the  same  symptom  as  uniformly  preceded  death,  in  a  fever  which 
prevailed  at  Modena,  in  the  year  1781.*  I  shall  mention  several 
other  instances  of  the  same  signs  being  followed  by  an  opposite 
issue  in  different  years,  in  the  late  pestilential  epidemic  of  our 
country. 

8th.  Neglect  to  record  minute  symptoms  in  the  history  of 
diseases.  Hippocrates  and  Sydenham  are  justly  exempted  from 
this  charge  against  our  profession.  Had  their  method  of  examin- 
ing and  describing  diseases  been  generally  followed,  we  should 
not,  this  day,  complain  of  so  much  imperfection  in  our  science. 
A  disease  is  a  lawless  evil.  To  understand  its  nature  from  its 
symptoms,  it  should  be  inspected  every  hour  of  the  day  and 
night.  It  is,  during  the  latter  period,  fevers  most  frequently  have 
their  exacerbations  and  remissions;  and  it  is  only  by  accommo- 
dating our  remedies  to  them,  that  the  practice  of  medicine  can 
become  regular  and  successful.  How  much  is  to  be  learned  from 
sitting  up  with  sick  people,  may  be  known  from  conversing  with 
sensible  nurses.  I  have  profited  by  their  remarks;  and  I  have  often 
imposed  their  duties  upon  my  pupils,  in  order,  among  other 
things,  to  increase  their  knowledge  of  diseases. 

9th.  The  neglect  to  discriminate  between  the  remote  and 
exciting  causes  of  diseases.  Under  the  influence  of  this  negli- 
gence, the  death  of  many  persons  from  the  miasmata  which 
produce  the  yellow  fever,  has  often  been  ascribed  to  the  full 
meal,  the  intoxicating  draught,  the  long  walk,  or  the  night  air, 
which  excited  them  into  action. 

loth.  The  neglect  to  ascertain  the  nature,  and  strength  of 

*  Burserus,  p.  497. 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          231 

diseases  by  the  pulse,  or  an  exclusive  reliance  upon  its  frequency 
for  that  purpose,  and  that  too  only  in  morbid  affections  of  the 
sanguiferous  system. 

nth.  The  neglect  to  employ  the  passions  as  remedies  in  the 
cure  of  diseases.  An  accidental  paroxysm  of  joy,  fear,  or  anger, 
has  often  induced  a  sudden  and  favourable  crisis  in  cases  of 
doubtful  issue.  Quacks  owe  a  great  deal  of  their  occasional 
success,  to  their  command  over  the  feelings  of  their  patients. 
The  advantages  to  be  derived  from  them  might  be  an  hundred 
times  greater,  were  they  properly  directed  by  regular  bred 
physicians. 

1 2th.  An  undue  reliance  upon  the  powers  of  nature  in  curing 
diseases.  I  have  elsewere  endeavoured  to  expose  this  superstition 
in  medicine,  and  shall  in  another  place,  mention  some  additional 
facts  to  show  its  extensive  mischief  in  our  science. 

1 3th.  The  practice  among  physicians  of  waiting  till  diseases 
have  evolved  their  specific  characters  before  they  prescribe  for 
them,  thus  allowing  them  time  to  form  those  effusions,  and  ob- 
structions, which  frequently  produce  immediate  death,  or  a 
train  of  chronic  complaints. 

1 4th.  The  great  and  unnecessary  number  of  medicines  which 
are  used  for  the  cure  of  diseases.  Did  we  prescribe  more  for  their 
state,  and  less  for  their  name,  a  fourth  part  of  the  medicines  now 
in  use,  would  be  sufficient  for  all  the  purposes  intended  by  them. 
By  thus  limiting  their  number,  we  should  acquire  a  more  perfect 
knowledge  of  their  virtues  and  doses,  and  thereby  exhibit  them 
with  more  success. 

1 5th.  The  exhibition  of  medicines,  without  a  due  regard  to 
the  different  stages  of  diseases.  Bark,  opium,  and  mercury,  are 
remedies,  or  poisons,  according  as  they  are  accommodated,  or 
not,  to  the  existing  state  of  the  system.  The  same  may  be  said 
of  many  of  the  most  simple  articles  in  the  materia  medica.  Bath- 
ing the  feet  in  warm  water,  often  prevents  a  fever  in  its  forming 
state.  The  same  remedy,  when  used  after  the  fever  is  formed, 
often  induces  delirium,  and  other  symptoms  of  a  dangerous  and 
alarming  nature. 


232       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

1 6th.  An  exclusive  dependence  upon  some  one  medicine,  or 
one  class  of  remedies.  Bleeding,  purges,  and  vomits,  sweating 
medicines,  hot  and  cold  water,  ice  and  snow,  baths  of  different 
kinds,  opium  and  bark,  crude  quicksilver,  and  calomel,  iron  and 
copper,  acids  and  alkalies,  lime  and  tar  water,  fixed  air  and 
oxygen,  have  all  been  used  separately  by  physicians,  in  diseases 
which  required  in  their  occasional  changes,  the  successive  appli- 
cation of  many  different  medicines  of  opposite  virtues,  or  a 
variety  of  the  same  class  of  medicines.  This  exclusive  attach- 
ment to  one  set  of  remedies,  has  not  been  confined  to  individual 
physicians.  Whole  nations  are  as  much  distinguished  by  it,  as 
they  are  by  language  and  manners.  In  England,  cordial  and 
sweating  medicines;  in  France,  bleeding,  injections,  and  diluting 
drinks;  in  Germany,  alterative  medicines;  in  Italy,  cups  and 
leeches;  in  Russia,  hot  and  cold  baths;  and  in  China,  frictions; 
constitute  the  predominating  and  fashionable  remedies  in  all 
their  respective  diseases. 

iyth.  The  neglect  to  inquire  after,  and  record,  cures  which 
have  been  performed  by  time,  by  accident,  or  by  medicines, 
administered  by  quacks,  or  by  the  friends  of  sick  people.  By 
examining  the  precise  condition  of  the  system,  and  stage  of  dis- 
eases, in  which  such  remedies  have  produced  their  salutary 
effects,  and  afterwards  regulating  them  by  principles,  great 
additions  might  have  been  made  to  our  stock  of  medical  knowl- 
edge. 

1 8th.  The  neglect  to  dissect,  and  examine,  morbid  bodies 
after  death;  and  where  this  has  been  done,  mistaking  the  effects, 
for  the  causes  of  diseases. 

1 9th.  The  attempts  which  have  been  made  to  establish  regu- 
lar modes  of  practice  in  medicine,  upon  experience  without 
reasoning,  and  upon  reasoning  without  experience. 

zoth.  The  dependent  state  of  physicians,  upon  public  opinion 
for  their  subsistence.  It  is  this  which  has  checked  innovation  in 
the  practice  of  medicine,  and  too  often  made  physicians  the 
apothecaries  of  their  patients.  To  a  dependence  of  our  profes- 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          233 

sion  upon  commerce,  we  are  in  part  to  ascribe  the  belief  of 
the  importation  of  pestilential  diseases  in  nearly  all  the  large 
cities  in  Europe  and  America. 

list.  The  interference  of  governments  in  prohibiting  the 
use  of  certain  remedies,  and  inforcing  the  use  of  others  by  law. 
The  effect  of  this  mistaken  policy  has  been  as  hurtful  to  medi- 
cine, as  a  similar  practice  with  respect  to  opinions,  has  been 
to  the  Christian  religion. 

izd.  Conferring  exclusive  privileges  upon  bodies  of  physi- 
cians, and  forbidding  men,  of  equal  talents  and  knowledge, 
under  severe  penalties,  from  practising  medicine  within  certain 
districts  of  cities  and  countries.  Such  institutions,  however 
sanctioned  by  ancient  charters  and  names,  are  the  bastiles  of 
our  science. 

23d.  The  refusal  in  universities  to  tolerate  any  opinions,  in 
the  private  or  public  exercises  of  candidates  for  degrees  in 
medicine,  which  are  not  taught  nor  believed  by  their  professors, 
thus  restraining  a  spirit  of  inquiry  in  that  period  of  life  which 
is  most  distinguished  for  ardour  and  invention  in  our  science. 
It  was  from  a  view  of  the  prevalence  of  this  conduct,  that 
Dr.  Adam  Smith,  has  called  universities  the  "dull  repositories 
of  exploded  opinions."  I  am  happy  in  being  able  to  exempt  the 
university  of  Pennsylvania,  from  this  charge.  Candidates  for 
degrees  are  here  not  only  permitted  to  controvert  the  opinions 
of  their  teachers,  but  to  publish  their  own,  provided  they  dis- 
cover learning  and  ingenuity  in  defending  them. 

24th.  The  last  cause  I  shall  mention,  which  has  retarded  the 
progress  of  medicine,  is  the  division  of  diseases  into  genera  and 
species  by  means  of  what  has  lately  received  the  name  of  nosol- 
ogy. Upon  this  part  of  our  subject,  I  shall  be  more  particular 
than  was  necessary,  under  any  of  the  former  heads  of  our  lec- 
ture; for  no  one  of  the  causes,  which  have  been  assigned  of 
the  imperfection  of  our  science,  has  operated  with  more  effect 
than  the  nosological  arrangement  of  diseases.  To  expose  its 
unfriendly  influence  upon  medicine,  it  will  be  proper  first  to 


234       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

repeat  in  part,  what  I  have  published  in  the  fourth  volume  of 
my  Inquiries  and  Observations,  before  I  proceed  to  mention  the 
manner  of  its  operation. 

i  st.  Nosology  presupposes  the  characters  of  diseases  to  be 
as  fixed  as  the  characters  of  animals  and  plants:  but  this  is  far 
from  being  the  case.  Animals  and  plants  are  exactly  the  same 
in  all  their  properties,  that  they  were  nearly  six  thousand  years 
ago,  but  who  can  say  the  same  thing  of  any  one  disease?  They 
are  all  changed  by  time  and  still  more  by  climate,  and  a  great 
variety  of  accidental  circumstances.  But  the  same  morbid  state 
of  the  system  often  assumes  in  the  course  of  a  few  days,  all  the 
symptoms  of  a  dozen  different  genera  of  diseases.  Thus  a  malig- 
nant fever  frequently  invades  every  part  of  the  body,  and  is  at 
once,  or  in  succession,  an  epitome  of  the  whole  «•  class  of  prexiae 
in  Dr.  Cullen's  Synopsis. 

id.  The  nosological  arrangement  of  diseases  has  been  at- 
tempted from  their  causes  and  seats.  The  remote  causes  of  dis- 
eases all  unite  in  producing  but  one  effect,  that  is  irritation  and 
morbid  excitement,  and  of  course  are  incapable  of  division.  The 
proximate  cause  of  diseases,  is  an  unit;  for  whether  it  appears 
in  the  form  of  convulsion,  spasm,  a  prostration  of  action,  heat, 
or  itching,  it  is  alike  the  effect  of  simple  diseased  excitement. 
The  impracticability  of  dividing  diseases  into  genera  and  species, 
from  their  seats,  will  appear  when  we  consider  the  feeble  state 
of  sensibility  in  some  of  the  internal  organs,  and  the  want  of 
connexion  between  impression  and  sensation  in  others;  by  which 
means  there  is  often  a  total  absence  of  the  sign  of  pain,  or  a 
deceitful  and  capricious  translation  of  it  to  another  part  of  the 
body,  in  many  diseases.  In  the  most  acute  stage  of  inflammation 
in  the  stomach,  there  is  frequently  no  pain,  vomiting,  nor  sick- 
ness. The  liver  in  the  East  Indies,  undergoes  a  general  suppura- 
tion, and  sometimes  a  partial  destruction,  without  pain,  or  any 
of  the  common  signs  of  local  inflammation.  Dr.  Chisholm,  in 
his  essay  upon  the  malignant  West  India  fever,  mentions  its 
fatal  issue  in  two  sailors  whom  he  dissected:  in  one  of  whom 
he  discovered  great  marks  of  inflammation  in  the  lungs,  and  in 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          235 

the  other,  a  mortification  of  the  right  kidney;  but  in  neither  of 
them,  he  adds,  was  perceived  the  least  sign  of  disease  in  those 
viscera,  during  their  sickness.*  Baglivi  found  a  stone  in  the  kidney 
of  a  man  who  had  complained  of  a  pain  only  in  the  kidney  of  the 
opposite  side,  during  his  life.  I  have  lost  two  patients  with 
abscesses  in  the  lungs,  who  complained  only  of  a  pain  in  the 
head.  Neither  of  them  had  a  cough,  and  one  of  them  had  never 
felt  any  pain  in  his  breast  or  sides.  Many  hundred  facts  of  a 
similar  nature,  are  to  be  met  with  in  the  records  of  medicine. 
Even  in  those  cases  where  impression  does  not  produce  sensa- 
tions in  remote  parts  of  the  body,  it  is  often  so  diffused  by  means 
of  what  has  been  happily  called,  by  Dr.  Johnson,  "an  inter- 
communion of  sensation,"  that  the  precise  seat*  of  a  disease  is 
seldom  known.  The  affections  of  the  bowels  and  brain  furnish 
many  proofs  of  the  truth  of  this  observation. 

Errors  in  theory,  seldom  fail  of  producing  errors  in  practice. 
Nosology  has  retarded  the  progress  of  medicine  in  the  following 
ways. 

i  st.  It  precludes  all  the  advantages  which  are  to  be  derived 
from  attacking  diseases,  in  their  forming  state,  at  which  time 
they  are  devoid  of  their  nosological  characters,  and  are  most 
easily  and  certainly  prevented  or  cured. 

zd.  It  has  led  physicians  to  prescribe  exclusively  for  the 
names  of  diseases,  without  a  due  regard  to  the  condition  of  the 
system.  This  practice  has  done  the  most  extensive  mischief, 
where  a  malignant  or  inflammatory  constitution  of  the  atmos- 
phere has  produced  a  single  or  predominating  epidemic,  which 
calls  for  the  same  class  of  remedies,  under  all  the  modifications 
which  are  produced  by  difference  in  its  seat,  and  exciting  causes. 

3d.  It  multiplies  unnecessarily  the  articles  of  the  materia 
medica,  by  employing  nearly  as  many  medicines,  as  there  are 
forms  of  disease. 

I  know  it  has  been  said,  that  by  rejecting  nosology,  we 
establish  indolence  in  medicine,  but  the  reverse  of  this  assertion 

*  Vol.  i.  p.  184. 


236       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

is  true;  for  if  our  prescriptions  are  to  be  regulated  chiefly  by  the 
force  of  morbid  excitement,  and  if  this  force  be  varied  in  acute 
diseases  by  a  hundred  different  circumstances,  even  by  a  cloud, 
according  to  Dr.  Lining,  lessening,  for  a  few  minutes,  the  light 
and  heat  of  the  sun,  it  follows,  that  the  utmost  watchfulness  and 
skill  will  be  necessary  to  accommodate  our  remedies  to  the 
changing  state  of  the  system. 

I  have  thus,  gentlemen,  briefly  .pointed  out  the  principal 
causes  which  have  retarded  the  progress  of  our  science.  It  re- 
mains now,  that  I  mention  the  means  of  promoting  its  certainty 
and  greater  usefulness.  It  will  readily  occur,  that  this  is  to  be 
done,  by  avoiding  all  the  causes,  which  have  produced  its  present 
state  of  imperfection.  I  shall  select,  from  those  causes,  a  few 
that  have  been  hinted  at  only,  and  which,  from  their  importance, 
require  further  amplification. 

i  st.  Let  us  strip  our  profession  of  every  thing  that  looks  like 
mystery  and  imposture,  and  clothe  medical  knowledge  in  a  dress 
so  simple  and  intelligible,  that  it  may  become  a  part  of  academi- 
cal education  in  all  our  seminaries  of  learning.  Truth  is  simple 
upon  all  subjects,  but  upon  those  which  are  essential  to  the 
general  happiness  of  mankind,  it  is  obvious  to  the  meanest 
capacities.  There  is  no  man  so  simple,  that  cannot  be  taught 
to  cultivate  grain,  and  no  woman  so  devoid  of  understanding,  as 
to  be  incapable  of  learning  the  art  of  making  that  grain  into 
bread.  And  shall  the  means  of  preserving  our  health  by  the  cul- 
ture and  preparation  of  aliment,  be  so  intelligible,  and  yet  the 
means  of  restoring  it,  when  lost,  be  so  abstruse,  as  to  require 
years  of  study  to  discover  and  apply  them?  To  suppose  this, 
is  to  call  in  question  the  goodness  of  the  Supreme  Being,  and  to 
believe  that  he  acts  without  unity  and  system  in  all  his  works. 
In  no  one  of  the  acts  of  man  do  we  behold  more  weakness  and 
error,  than  in  our  present  modes  of  education.  We  teach  bur 
sons  words,  at  the  expense  of  things.  We  teach  them  what  was 
done  two  thousand  years  ago,  and  conceal  from  them  what  is 
doing  every  day.  We  instruct  them  in  the  heathen  mythology, 
but  neglect  to  teach  them  the  principles  of  the  religion  of  their 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          237 

country.  We  teach  them  to  predict  eclipses,  and  the  return  of 
comets,  from  which  no  physical  advantages  worth  naming,  have 
ever  been  derived;  but  we  give  them  no  instruction  in  the  signs 
which  precede  general  and  individual  diseases.  How  long  shall 
the  human  mind  bend  beneath  the  usages  of  ancient  and  bar- 
barous times?  When  shall  we  cease  to  be  mere  scholars,  and 
become  wise  philosophers,  well  informed  citizens,  and  useful 
men? 

The  essential  principles  of  medicine  are  very  few.  They  are 
moreover  plain.  There  is  not  a  graduate  in  the  arts,  in  any  of 
our  colleges,  who  does  not  learn  things  of  more  difficulty,  than 
a  system  of  just  principles  in  medicine. 

All  the  morbid  effects  of  heat  and  cold,  of  intemperance  in 
eating  and  drinking,  and  in  the  exercises  of  the  body  and  mind, 
might  be  taught  with  as  much  case  as  the  multiplication 
table. 

All  the  knowledge  which  is  attainable  of  diseases  by  the 
pulse,  might  be  acquired  at  a  less  expense  of  time  and  labor, 
than  is  spent  in  committing  the  contents  of  the  Latin  grammar 
to  memory. 

The  operation  of  bleeding,  might  be  taught  with  less  trouble 
than  is  taken  to  teach  boys  to  draw,  upon  paper  or  slate,  the 
figures  in  Euclid. 

A  knowledge  of  the  virtues  and  doses  of  the  most  active  and 
useful  medicines,  might  be  acquired  with  greater  facility,  and 
much  more  pleasure,  than  the  rules  for  composing  syllogisms 
laid  down  in  our  systems  of  logic. 

In  support  of  the  truth  of  the  opinions  I  am  now  advancing, 
let  us  take  a  view  of  the  effects  of  the  simplicity,  which  has  been 
introduced  into  the  art  of  war,  by  one  of  the  nations  of  Europe. 
A  few  obvious  principles  have  supplied  the  place  of  volumes 
upon  tactics;  and  private  citizens  have  become  greater  generals, 
and  peasants  more  irresistible  soldiers  in  a  few  weeks,  than  their 
predecessors  in  war  were,  after  the  instruction  and  experience 
of  fifteen  or  twenty  years.  Could  changes  equally  simple  and 
general  be  introduced  by  means  of  our  schools  into  the  practice 


238       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

of  medicine,  no  arithmetic  could  calculate  its  advantages.  Mil- 
lions of  lives  would  be  saved  by  it. 

In  thus  recommending  the  general  diffusion  of  medical 
knowledge,  by  making  it  a  part  of  an  academical  education,  let 
it  not  be  supposed  that  I  wish  to  see  the  exercise  of  medicine 
abolished  as  a  regular  profession.  Casualties  which  render  opera- 
tions in  surgery  necessary,  and  such  diseases  as  occur  rarely, 
will  always  require  professional  aid;  but  the  knowledge  that  is 
necessary  for  these  purposes  may  be  soon  acquired;  and  two  or 
three  persons,  separated  from  other  pursuits,  would  be  sufficient 
to  apply  it  to  a  city  consisting  of  forty  thousand  people. 

id.  To  promote  the  certainty  and  greater  usefulness  of  our 
science,  let  us  study  the  premonitory  signs  of  diseases,  and  apply 
our  remedies  to  them,  before  they  are  completely  formed.  At 
this  time  they  generally  yield  to  the  most  simple  and  common 
domestic  medicines;  for  there  is  the  same  difference  between 
their  force,  in  their  forming  state,  and  after  they  have  put  forth 
their  strength  in  the  reaction  of  the  system,  that  there  is  between 
the  strength  of  an  infant,  and  of  a  full  grown  man.  This  impor- 
tant truth  has  been  long,  and  deeply  impressed  upon  my  mind; 
and  many  of  you  can  witness,  that  I  have  often  recommended 
it  to  your  attention.  To  all  physical  evils  I  believe  there  are 
certain  precursors,  which  if  known  and  attended  to,  in  due  time, 
would  enable  us  to  obviate  them.  Premonitory  signs  I  am  sure 
occur  before  all  diseases.  They  are  most  evident  in  fevers,  in  the 
gout,  in  apoplexy,  epilepsy,  melancholy,  and  madness.  They 
even  obtrude  themselves  upon  our  notice,  as  if  to  demand  the 
remedies  which  are  proper  to  arrest  the  impending  commotions 
in  the  system.  This  is  more  obviously  the  case  in  those  diseases, 
which,  when  formed,  are  difficult  to  cure.  In  one  of  my  pub- 
lications in  the  year  1793,  I  asserted,  that  the  yellow  fever  was 
as  much  under  the  power  of  medicine  as  the  influenza,  or  an 
intermitting  fever.  This  was  strictly  true  in  the  beginning  of  the 
epidemic  of  that  year,  and  continued  to  be  so,  until  a  belief  in 
the  prevalence  of  a  fever  of  less  danger,  produced  delays  in 
sending  for  physicians,  or  negligence  in  using  the  simple  reme- 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          239 

dies  that  were  recommended  in  the  forming  state  of  the  reigning 
epidemic.  In  our  lectures  upon  the  practice  of  physic,  I  shall 
mention  those  remedies,  and  shall  repeat  to  you  the  importance 
of  watching  the  exact  time  in  which  they  may  be  exhibited  with 
safety  and  success. 

3d.  Let  our  inquiries  be  directed  with  peculiar  industry  and 
zeal,  to  complete  the  natural  and  morbid  history  of  the  pulse. 
It  is  the  string  which  vibrates  most  readily  with  discordant 
motions  in  every  part  of  the  body.  Were  I  allowed  to  coin  a 
word,  I  would  call  the  pulse  the  nosotneter  of  the  system.  There 
is  the  same  difference  in  the  knowledge  of  diseases  which  is  ob- 
tained by  it,  and  by  their  other  signs,  that  there  is  between 
speech,  and  inarticulate  sounds.  The  eyes  and  countenance  can- 
not always  be  inspected,  without  exposing  sick  people  to  pain 
and  danger  from  the  irritation  of  light.  The  tongue  cannot  be 
seen  in  children,  nor  in  the  delirium  of  a  fever.  Its  appearance 
moreover  is  liable  to  be  so  changed  by  aliment  and  drinks  as  to 
obliterate  the  effect  of  diseases  upon  it.  It  is  often  unsafe  to 
preserve  the  excretions,  and  when  examined,  they  afford  uncer- 
tain marks  of  the  state  of  the  system.  None  of  these  objections 
apply  to  the  pulse.  It  can  be  felt  in  persons  of  all  ages,  at  all  times 
of  the  day  and  night,  and  in  all  diseases,  and  always  without 
any  inconvenience  to  a  patient.  I  shall  shortly  lay  before  you  the 
facts  and  reasonings  which  have  been  the  result  of  my  observa- 
tions upon  it.  They  are  as  yet  limited,  and  very  imperfect;  but 
they  will  serve,  I  hope,  like  a  distant  view  of  a  new  and  fertile 
country,  to  excite  your  desires  to  explore  it,  and  to  add  its 
products  to  the  treasures  of  medicine. 

The  fourth  and  last  means  of  promoting  certainty  in  medi- 
cine, and  its  more  extensive  usefulness,  is  to  cherish  a  belief, 
that  they  are  both  attainable  and  practicable.  "Knowledge"  it 
has  been  justly  said,  "is  power,  and  philosophy,  the  empire  of 
art  over  nature."  By  means  of  the  knowledge  which  has  lately 
been  obtained,  men  now  visit  the  upper  regions  of  the  air  and 
the  bottom  of  the  ocean,  as  if  they  were  a  part  of  their  original 
territory.  Distance  and  time  have  likewise  become  subject  to 


24o       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

their  f  power,  by  the  invention  of  instruments  for  accelerating 
the  communication  of  new  and  important  events.  Equally  great, 
and  far  more  interesting  have  been  the  triumphs  of  medicine 
within  the  last  thirty  years.  Fevers  have  been  deprived  of  their 
mortality  by  attacking  them  in  their  forming  state;  and  where 
this  has  not  been  done,  they  have  been  made  to  yield  to  de- 
pleting, or  tonic  remedies,  where  they  have  been  properly  timed. 
The  smallpox  has  been  disarmed  of  its  remnant  of  power  over 
human  life,  by  means  of  vaccine  inoculation.  But  medicine  has 
lately  done  more.  It  has  discovered  those  fevers,  which  have 
desolated  cities  and  countries,  to  be  derived,  in  all  cases,  from 
putrid  and  local  exhalations,  and  that  they  are  propagated  only 
by  a  morbid  constitution  of  the  atmosphere.  It  is  true,  this  dis- 
covery has  not  been  generally  admitted,  but  the  error,  which 
is  opposed  to  it,  has  received  a  blow  from  the  "publications  of 
our  countrymen,  Dr.  Mitchell,  Dr.  Miller  and  Mr.  Webster, 
from  which  it  cannot  recover.  Its  total  destruction  will  be  fol- 
lowed by  the  same  extinction  of  pestilence,  which  commerce 
has  produced  of  famine  in  Europe,  by  the  level  it  has  intro- 
duced of  the  means  of  subsistence.  The  gout,  dropsies,  hemor- 
rhages, pulmonary  consumption,  are  now  cured,  when  they  are 
treated  as  symptoms  of  general  fever.  Cancers  are  easily  pre- 
vented, by  the  extirpation  of  tumors  in  glandular  parts  of  the 
body.  The  tetanus  has  seldom  resisted  the  efficacy  of  stimulating 
medicines,  where  an  exclusive  reliance  has  not  been  had  upon 
any  one  of  them.  But  modern  discoveries  have  not  stopped  here. 
They  have  taught  us  to  renew  the  motions  of  life,  where  they 
appeared  to  be  extinguished  by  death.  Hitherto,  resuscitation 
has  been  confined  only  to  persons,  who  have  been  supposed  to 
be  dead  from  drowning,  or  from  other  accidents;  but  the  time, 
I  believe,  will  come,  when  the  labours  of  science  and  humanity 
will  be  employed  in  recovering  persons,  who  appear  to  die  from 
other  causes.  We  are  authorized  to  adopt  this  opinion  by  the 
late  discovery  of  the  causes  of  animal  life,  and  by  the  light 
which  the  external  and  internal  appearances  of  the  body  after 
death  from  fevers,  has  thrown  upon  this  subject.  Motion,  which 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          241 

is  one  of  the  operations  of  life,  certainly  continues,  after  persons, 
who  have  had  fevers,  are  supposed  to  be  dead.  This  is  evident, 
in  the  accumulation  of  heat  in  particular  parts  of  the  body,  in 
the  absorption  and  diffusion  of  stagnating  fluids,  in  the  change 
of  the  countenance  from  a  gloomy,  to  a  placid  form,  in  the 
occasional  appearance  of  a  red  colour  in  one,  or  in  both  the 
cheeks,  and  in  the  sudden  diffusion  of  a  yellow  colour  over  the 
whole  or  a  part  of  the  body,  in  persons  who  die  of  malignant 
bilious  fevers.  But  this  motion  in  the  external  surface  of  the 
body  has  gone  much  further.  Sweats  have  been  observed  to  take 
place  for  many  hours,  and  in  one  instance,  several  days  after 
death,  from  the  maniacal  state  of  fever.  The  stiffness  of  the 
limbs,  which  so  soon  succeeds  death,  is  probably,  in  many  cases, 
the  effect  of  general  convulsion,  and  may  hereafter  be  discov- 
ered to  be  nothing  but  a  chronic  spasm  of  the  muscular  system. 
The  internal  appearances  of  the  body  after  death,  from  fevers, 
still  more  favour  the  idea  of  the  possibility  of  extending  the 
means  of  resuscitation  with  success  to  persons  supposed  to  be 
dead  from  those  diseases.  I  shall  hereafter  teach  you,  that  death 
from  a  fever,  is  induced  by  one  or  more  of  the  three  following 
causes. 

i  st.  The  disorganization  of  parts  essential  to  life,  by  means 
of  great  excess  of  morbid  excitement,  by  congestion,  inflamma- 
tion, or  mortification. 

zd.  By  such  a  change  in  the  fluids,  as  renders  them  unfit  for 
the  purposes  of  life. 

3d.  By  the  exhausted  state  of  the  excitability,  and  excitement 
of  the  system,  which  renders  it  incapable  of  being  acted  upon 
by  the  stimulus  of  medicine.  Death,  from  the  two  last  causes, 
rarely  occurs  in  acute  fevers,  which  terminate  in  less  than  eleven 
days.  Dissections  show  some  viscus  to  be  in  a  state  of  disorgani- 
zation, nearly  in  all  cases;  but  this  disorganization  is  often  of  so 
partial  a  nature,  as  to  beget  a  presumption  that  it  might  have 
been  removed  by  the  usual  remedies  for  resuscitation.  Where 
life  has  appeared  to  be  extinguished  by  the  sudden  loss  of  excite- 
ment or  expenditure  of  excitability,  I  believe  those  remedies 


242       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

might  often  be  employed  with  success.  Such  cases  probably 
occur,  where  patients  appear  to  die  in  the  paroxysm  of  an  inter- 
mittent, or  under  the  operation  of  drastic  vomits  and  purges. 
From  a  review  of  what  has  been  lately  effected  by  our  sci- 
ence, I  cannot  help  admitting  with  Dr.  Hartley,  that  in  that 
happy  period,  predicted  in  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  when 
religion  shall  combine  its  influence  upon  the  passions  and  con- 
duct of  men,  with  fresh  discoveries  in  medicine,  Christian  Mis- 
sionaries shall  procure  the  same  credit,  and  kind  reception  among 
Pagan  and  Savage  nations,  by  curing  diseases  by  natural  means, 
which  the  Apostles  obtained  by  curing  them  by  supernatural 
power.  Yes,  the  time,  I  believe,  will  come,  when,  from  the  per- 
fection of  our  science,  men  shall  be  so  well  acquainted  with  the 
method  of  destroying  poisons,  that  they  "shall  tread  upon  scor- 
pions and  serpents"  without  being  injured  by  them.*  And 
mothers,  from  their  knowledge  and  'use  of  the  same  antidotes, 
shall  cease  to  restrain  "a  sucking  child  from  playing  on  the  hole 
of  the  asp,  and  the  weaned  child  from  putting  his  hand  on  the 
cockatrice's  den."  f  Suspended  animation,  if  it  should  occur 
in  that  enlightened  state  of  the  world,  shall  no  more  expose  the 
subjects  of  it  to  premature  interment.  Pestilential  diseases  shall 
then  cease  to  spread  terror  and  death  over  half  the  globe;  for 
interest  and  prejudice  shall  no  longer  oppose  the  removal  of  the 
obvious  and  offensive  causes  which  produce  them.  Lazarettos 
shall  likewise  cease  to  be  the  expensive  and  inhuman  monuments 
of  error  and  folly,  in  medicine  and  in  government.  Hospitals 
shall  be  unknown.  The  groans  of  pain,  the  ravings  of  madness, 
and  the  sighs  of  melancholy  shall  be  heard  no  more.  The  cradle 
and  the  tomb  shall  no  longer  be  related;  for  old  age  shall  then 
be  universal.  Long,  long  before  this  revolution  in  the  health  and 
happiness  of  mankind  shall  arrive,  you,  and  I  gentlemen,  must 
sleep  with  our  fathers  in  the  silent  grave.  But  a  consolation  is 
still  left  to  us  under  the  pressure  of  this  reflection.  If  we  cannot 
share  in  the  happiness  we  have  destined  for  our  posterity,  we  can 

*  Luke,  x.  xix. 
t  Isaiah,  xi.  viii. 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          243 

contribute  to  produce  it.  For  this  purpose  let  us  attempt  a  voyage 
of  circumnavigation  in  medicine,  by  resurvcying  all  its  branches 
in  their  connexion  with  each  other.  Let  no  part,  nor  function 
of  the  body,  and  no  law  of  the  animal  economy,  escape  a  second 
investigation.  Let  all  the  remote  causes  of  diseases,  and  above 
all,  let  the  resources  of  our  profession  in  the  materia  medica, 
be  subjected  to  fresh  examinations.  It  is  probable  many  new 
remedies  remain  yet  to  be  discovered;  but  most  of  the  old  ones 
demand  new  experiments  and  observations  to  determine  their 
doses  and  efficacy.  It  is  impossible  to  say  how  much  the  certainty 
of  medicine  might  be  promoted,  and  its  usefulness  increased, 
by  a  more  extensive  knowledge  of  the  times,  place,  manner,  and 
means  of  depletion;  by  abstracting  heat  from  the  body  by  means 
of  water  and  ice,  as  well  as  air,  and  applying  it  by  means  of 
vapour,  air,  oil,  salt,  sand,  and  clay,  as  well  as  by  water;  by 
frictions  impregnated  with  medicinal  substances;  by  the  applica- 
tion of  stimuli  to  the  skin  and  lower  bowels  where  they  cannot 
be  retained,  or  after  they  have  been  ineffectually  administered 
through  the  medium  of  the  stomach;  by  new  modes  of  exercise 
and  labour,  and  more  specific  times  of  using  them;  by  means 
of  rest;  by  changes  of  air,  climate,  and  pursuits  in  life;  by  diet; 
by  the  quality  of  clothing  and  forms  of  dress;  by  artificial  sleep 
and  wakcfulness;  by  pleasure  and  pain;  by  simplicity,  composi- 
tion, succession,  and  rotation,  in  the  use  of  chronic  medicines; 
and  by  the  extension  of  the  operations  of  the  mind  to  the  cure 
of  diseases.  But  in  vain  shall  we  enlarge  our  knowledge  of  all 
the  remedies  that  have  been  mentioned;  nay  more,  to  no  purpose 
would  an  antediluvian  age  be  employed  in  collecting  facts  upon 
all  the  different  branches  of  medicine,  unless  they  can  be  con- 
nected and  applied  by  principles  of  some  kind.  Observation 
without  principles  is  nothing  but  empiricism:  and  however  much 
the  contradictions  and  uncertainty  of  theories  may  be  com- 
plained of,  I  believe  much  greater  uncertainty  and  contradic- 
tions will  be  found  in  the  controversies  among  physicians  con- 
cerning what  are  said  to  be  facts,  and  that  too  upon  subjects  in 
which  the  senses  alone  are  employed  to  judge  between  truth  and 


244       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

error.  It  is  by  means  of  principles  in  medicine,  that  a  physician 
can  practise  with  safety  to  his  patients,  and  satisfaction  to  him- 
self. They  impart  caution  and  boldness  alternately  to  his  pre- 
scriptions, and  supply  the  want  of  experience  in  all  new  cases. 
Between  such  a  physician,  and  the  man  who  relies  exclusively 
upon  experience,  there  is  the  same  difference  that  there  was 
between  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  after  he  completed  his  discoveries  in 
light  and  colours,  and  the  artist  who  manufactured  the  glasses, 
by  which  that  illustrious  philosopher  exemplified  his  principles 
in  optics.  After  this  account  of  the  necessity  and  advantages 
of  principles  in  medicine,  you  will  not  be  surprised,  gentlemen, 
at  my  declaring,  that  both  duty  and  inclination  unite  to  de- 
termine me  to  teach  them  from  this  chair.  I  know  from  experi- 
ence, the  consequences  of  contending,  in  this  work,  with  ancient 
prejudices  and  popular  names  in  medicine,  with  abilities  greatly 
inferior  to  the  contest.  But  I  have  not  laboured  in  vain.  If  I  have 
not  removed  any  part  of  the  rubbish  which  surrounded  the 
fabric  of  our  science,  nor  suggested  any  thing  better  in  its  place, 
I  feel  a  consolation  in  believing,  that  I  have  taught  many  of 
your  predecessors  to  do  both,  by  exciting  in  them  a  spirit  of 
inquiry,  and  a  disposition  to  controvert  old  and  doubtful  opin- 
ions, by  the  test  of  experiments.  I  have  only  to  request  you  to 
imitate  their  example.  Think,  read,  and  observe.  Observe,  read, 
and  think,  for  yourselves. 


OBSERVATIONS     AND     REASONING 
IN     MEDICINE 

A  Lecture 


PHYSICIANS  HAVE  been  divided  into  empirics  and  dogmatists.  The 
former  pretend  to  be  guided  by  experience,  and  the  latter  by 
reasoning  alone  in  their  prescriptions.  I  object  to  both  when 
separately  employed.  They  lead  alike  to  error  and  danger  in 
the  practice  of  physic.  I  shall  briefly  point  out  the  evils  which 
result  from  an  exclusive  reliance  upon  each  of  them. 

1.  Empiricism  presupposes  a  correct  and  perfect  knowledge 
of  all  the  diseases  of  the  human  body,  however  varied  they  may 
be  in  their  symptoms,   seats,   and   force,   by   age,   habit,   sex, 
climate,  season,  and  aliment.  Now,  it  is  well  known,  that  the 
longest  life  is  insufficient  for  the  purpose  of  acquiring  that 
knowledge.  This  will  appear  more  evident,  when  we  consider 
that  it  must  be  seated,  exclusively,  in  the  memory;  a  faculty 
which  is  the  most  subject  to  decay,  and  the  least  faithful  to  us 
of  any  of  the  faculties  of  the  mind.  Few  physicians,  I  believe, 
ever  recollect,  perfectly,  the  phenomena  of  any  disease  more 
than  two  years,  and,  perhaps,  for  a  much  shorter  time,  when 
they  are  engaged  in  extensive  business. 

2.  Neither  can  the  defect  of  experience,  nor  the  decay,  or 
weakness  of  the  memory  in  one  physician,  be  supplied  by  the 
experience  and  observations  of  others.  Few  men  see  the  same 
objects  through  the  same  medium.  How  seldom  do  we  find  the 
histories  of  the  same  disease,  or  of  the  effects  of  the  same  medi- 
cine to  agree,  even  when  they  are  related  by  physicians  of  the 


246       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

most  respectable  characters  for  talents  and  integrity!  An  hun- 
dred circumstances,  from  the  difference  of  treatment,  produce  a 
difference  in  the  symptoms  and  issue  of  similar  diseases,  and  in 
the  operation  of  the  same  medicines.  The  efforts  of  nature,  are, 
moreover,  often  mistaken  for  the  effects  of  a  favourite  prescrip- 
tion; and,  in  some  instances,  the  crisis  of  a  disease  has  been 
ascribed  to  medicines  which  have  been  thrown  out  of  a  window, 
or  emptied  behind  a  fire. 

3.  If  it  were  possible  to  obviate  all  the  inconveniences  and 
dangers  from  solitary  experience  which  have  been  mentioned,  an 
evil  would  arise  from  the  nature  of  the  human  mind,  which 
would  defeat  all  the  advantages  that  might  be  expected  from  it. 
This  evil  is  a  disposition  to  reason  upon  all  medical  subjects, 
without  being  qualified  by  education  for  that  purpose.  As  well 
might  we  attempt  to  control  the  motions  of  the  heart  by  the 
action  of  the  will,  as  to  suspend,  for  a  moment,  that  operation 
of  the  mind,  which  consists  in  drawing  inferences  from  facts. 
To  observe,  is  to  think,  and  to  think,  is  to  reason  in  medicine. 
Hence  we  find  theories  in  the  writings  of  the  most  celebrated 
practical  physicians,  even  of  those  who  preface  their  works  by 
declaiming  against  idle  and  visionary  speculations  in  our  science; 
but,  I  will  add,  further,  that  I  believe  no  empiric  ever  gave  a 
medicine  without  cherishing  a  theoretical  indication  of  cure  in 
his  mind.  Some  acrid  humour  is  to  be  obtunded,  some  viscid 
fluid  is  to  be  thinned,  some  spasm  is  to  be  resolved,  or  debility 
in  some  part  of  the  body  is  to  be  obviated,  in  all  his  prescriptions. 
To  an  exclusive  reliance  upon  theory  in  medicine,  there  are  an 
equal  number  of  objections.  I  shall  only  mention  a  few  of 
them. 

1.  Our  imperfect  knowledge  of  the  structure  of  the  human 
body,  and  of  the  laws  of  the  animal  economy. 

2.  The  limited  extent  of  the  human  understanding,  which 
acquires  truth  too  slowly  to  act  with  effect,  in  the  numerous  and 
rapid  exigencies  of  diseases. 

3.  The  influence  of  the  imagination  and  passions,  upon  the 
understanding  in  its  researches  after  truth.  An  opinion  becomes 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          247 

dear  to  us  by  being  generated  in  our  imaginations;  and  contra- 
diction, by  inflaming  the  passions,  increases  our  attachment  to 
error.  It  is  for  these  reasons,  we  observe  great,  and  even  good 
men,  so  zealously  devoted  to  their  opinions,  and  the  practice 
founded  upon  them,  even  after  they  have  been  exposed  and 
refuted  by  subsequent  discoveries  in  medicine. 

From  this  view  of  the  comparative  insufficiency  of  experi- 
ence and  theory,  in  our  science,  it  will  be  impossible  to  decide 
in  favour  of  either  of  them  in  their  separate  states.  The  empirics 
and  dogmatists  have  mutually  charged  each  other  with  the  want 
of  successful  practice.  I  believe  them  both,  and  will  add,  further, 
if  an  inventory  of  the  mischief  that  has  been  done  by  empirics, 
within  the  present  century,  whether  they  acted  under  the  cover 
of  a  diploma,  or  imposed  upon  the  public  by  false  and  pompous 
advertisements,  could  be  made  out,  and  compared  with  the  mis- 
chief which  has  been  done  by  a  practice  in  medicine,  founded 
upon  a  belief  in  the  archeus  of  Van  Helmont,  the  anima  medica 
of  Stahl,  the  spasm  of  Hoffman,  the  morbid  acrimonies  of  Boer- 
haave,  the  putrefaction  of  Cullen,  and  the  debility  of  Brown, 
as  the  proximate  causes  of  diseases,  I  am  satisfied  neither  sect 
would  have  any  cause  of  exultation,  or  triumph.  Both  would 
have  more  reason  to  lament  the  immense  additions  they  have 
made  to  pestilence  and  the  sword  in  their  ravages  upon  the 
human  race. 

It  is  peculiar  to  man,  to  divide  what  was  intended  by  the 
Author  of  nature  to  be  indivisible.  Religion  and  morals,  govern- 
ment and  liberty,  nay,  even  reason  and  the  senses,  so  happily 
paired  by  the  Creator  of  the  world,  in  the  order  in  which  they 
have  been  mentioned,  have  each  been  disunited  by  the  caprice 
and  folly  of  man.  The  evils  which  have  arisen  from  this  breach 
in  the  symmetry  of  the  divine  government  cannot  now  be  enu- 
merated. It  belongs  to  our  present  subject,  only  to  take  notice 
that  the  same  hostile  disposition  in  the  human  mind,  to  order 
and  utility,  appears  in  the  attempts  that  have  been  made  to 
separate  experience  and  reasoning  in  medicine.  They  are  neces- 
sarily united,  and  it  is  only  by  preserving  and  cultivating  their 


248       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

union,  that  our  science  can  be  made  to  convey  extensive  and 
lasting  blessings  to  mankind. 

The  necessity  of  combining  theory  and  practice  in  medicine, 
may  be  illustrated,  by  the  advantages  which  other  sciences  have 
derived  from  the  union  of  principles  and  facts.  The  numerous 
benefits  and  pleasures  we  enjoy  from  the  glasses  which  have 
been  made  use  of  to  extend  our  vision  to  distant  and  minute 
objects,  are  the  results  of  a  knowledge  of  the  principles  of  optics. 
The  many  useful  inventions  which  are  employed  to  shorten  and 
facilitate  labor,  are  the  products  of  a  knowledge  of  the  principles 
of  mechanics  and  hydraulics.  The  exploits  of  mariners  in  sub- 
duing the  ocean,  and  all  the  benefits  that  have  occurred  to  the 
world  from  the  connection  of  the  extremities  of  our  globe  by 
means  of  commerce,  are  the  fruits  of  a  knowledge  in  the  prin- 
ciples of  navigation.  Equally  great  have  been  the  advantages  of 
theory  in  the  science  of  medicine.  It  belongs  to  theory  to  accu- 
mulate facts;  and  hence  we  find  the  greatest  stock  of  them  is 
always  possessed  by  speculative  physicians.  While  simple  ob- 
servation may  be  compared  to  a  power  which  creates  an  alpha- 
bet,' theory  resembles  a  power  which  arranges  all  its  component 
parts  in  such  a  manner,  as  to  produce  words  and  ideas.  But 
theory  does  more.  It  supplies  in  a  great  degree  the  place  of 
experience,  and  thereby  places  youth  and  old  age  nearly  upon 
a  footing  in  the  profession  of  medicine;  for,  with  just  principles, 
it  is  no  more  necessary  for  a  young  physician  to  see  all  the 
diseases  of  the  human  body  before  he  prescribes  for  them,  than 
it  is  for  a  mariner,  who  knows  the  principles  of  navigation,  to 
visit  all  the  ports  in  the  world,  in  order  to  conduct  his  vessel 
in  safety  to  them. 

To  illustrate  still  further  the  benefits  of  theory,  I  shall  take 
notice  of  its  influence  upon  the  use  of  several  celebrated  and 
popular  remedies. 

Accident  probably  first  suggested  the  use  of  cool  air  in  the 
cure  of  fevers.  For  many  years  it  was  prescribed  indiscriminately 
in  every  form  and  grade  of  those  diseases,  during  which  time  it 
did  as  much  harm  as  good.  It  was  not  until  chemistry  taught 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          249 

us  that  its  good  effects  depended  wholly  upon  its  abstracting 
the  heat  of  the  body,  that  its  application  was  limited  to  those 
fevers  only,  which  are  accompanied  with  preternatural  heat, 
and  excessive  action  in  the  blood-vessels.  Since  the  use  of  cool 
air  has  been  regulated  by  this  principle,  its  effects  have  been 
uniformly  salutary  in  inflammatory  fevers. 

While  the  Peruvian  bark  was  believed  to  act  as  a  specific  in 
the  cure  of  intermittents,  it  was  often  an  ineffectual,  and  some- 
times a  destructive  medicine;  but  since  its  tonic  and  astringent 
virtues  have  been  ascertained,  its  injurious  effects  have  been 
restrained,  and  its  salutary  operation"  extended  to  all  those  fevers, 
whether  intermitting,  remitting,  or  continual,  in  which  a  feeble 
morbid  action  takes  place  in  the  sanguiferous  system. 

Opium  was  formerly  used  only  as  an  antidote  to  wakefulness 
and  pain,  during  which  time  it  often  increased  the  danger  and 
mortality  of  diseases;  but  since  its  stimulating  virtues  have  been 
discovered,  its  exhibition  has  been  regulated  by  the  degree  of 
excitement  in  the  system,  and  hence  it  is  now  administered  with 
uniform  safety,  or  success. 

Mercury  was  prescribed  empirically  for  many  years  in  the 
cure  of  several  diseases,  in  which  it  often  did  great  mischief; 
but  since  it  has  been  discovered  to  act  as  a  general  stimulant 
and  evacuant,  such  a  ratio  has  been  established  between  it,  and 
the  state  of  diseases,  as  to  render  it  a  safe  and  nearly  an  universal 
medicine. 

In  answer  to  what  has  been  delivered  in  favor  of  the  union 
of  experience  and  reasoning  in  medicine,  it  has  been  said,  that 
the  most  celebrated  physicians,  in  all  ages,  have  been  empirics; 
among  whom  they  class  Hippocrates  and  Sydenham.  This  charge 
against  the  illustrious  fathers  of  ancient  and  modern  medicine 
is  not  just,  for  they  both  reasoned  upon  the  causes,  symptoms, 
and  cure  of  diseases;  and  their  works  contain  more  theory,  than 
is  to  be  met  with  in  many  of  the  most  popular  systems  of  medi- 
cine. Their  theories,  it  is  true,  are  in  many  instances  erroneous; 
but  they  were  restrained  from  perverting  their  judgments,  and 
impairing  the  success  of  their  practice,  by  their  great  experience, 


25o       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

and  singular  talents  for  extensive  and  accurate  observation.  This 
defence  of  Hippocrates  and  Sydenham  does  not  apply  to  com- 
mon empirics.  They  cure  only  by  chance;  for,  by  false  reasoning, 
they  detract  from  the  advantages  of  their  solitary  experience.  It 
is  true,  they  often  acquire  reputation  and  wealth,  but  this  must 
be  ascribed  to  the  credulity  of  their  patients,  and  to  the  zeal  with 
which  they  justify  their  preference  of  such  physicians,  by  mul- 
tiplying and  exaggerating  their  cures,  or  by  palliating,  or  denying 
their  mistakes.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  it  has  been  well  said, 
"Quacks  are  the  greatest  liars  in  the  world,  except  their  patients/' 

We  are  further  told,  in  favour  of  empiricism,  that  physicians 
of  the  first  character  have  acknowledged  the  fallacy  of  prin- 
ciples in  medicine.  I  cannot  assent  to  the  truth  of  this  assertion. 
It  is  contradicted  by  the  history  of  our  science  ^in  all  ages  and 
countries.  The  complaints  of  its  fallacy,  and  even  of  its  uncer- 
tainty, originate,  I  believe,  in  most  cases,  in  ignorance,  indolence, 
or  imposture;  and  therefore  were  never  uttered  by  men  of  emi- 
nence and  integrity  in  our  profession. 

In  the  progress  of  medicine  towards  its  present  state  of  im- 
provement, different  theories  or  systems  have  been  proposed  by 
different  authors.  You  will  find  a  minute  and  entertaining  ac- 
count of  such  of  them  as  have  been  handed  down  to  us  from 
antiquity  in  Dr.  Black's  History  of  Medicine.  They  are  all 
necessarily  imperfect,  inasmuch  as  none  of  them  embraces  the 
numerous  discoveries  in  anatomy,  physiology,  chemistry,  materia 
medica,  and  natural  philosophy,  which  have  been  made  within 
the  two  last  centuries  in  Europe.  The  systems  which  divide  the 
physicians  of  the  present  day,  are  those  of  Dr.  Stahl,  Dr.  Boer- 
haave,  Dr.  Cullen,  and  Dr.  Brown. 

i .  Dr.  Stahl  lived  and  wrote  in  a  country  remarkable  for  the 
simplicity  of  the  manners  of  its  inhabitants.  Their  diseases  par- 
took of  their  temperate  mode  of  living,  and  were  often  cured 
by  the  operations  of  nature,  without  the  aid  of  medicine;  hence 
arose  Dr.  Stahl's  opinion  of  the  vires  naturae  medicatrices,  or 
of  the  existence  of  an  anima  medica,  whose  business  it  was  to 
watch  over  the  health  of  the  body.  We  shall  show,  therefore, 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          251 

the  error  of  these  supposed  healing  powers  in  nature,  and  the 
extreme  danger  of  trusting  to  them  in  the  dangerous  and  com- 
plicated diseases,  which  are  produced  by  the  artificial  customs 
of  civilized  life. 

2.  Dr.  Boerhaave  lived  and  wrote  in  a  country  in  which  a 
moist  atmosphere,  and  an  excessive  quantity  of  unwholesome 
aliment,  had  produced  an  immense  number  of  diseases  of  the 
skin.  These  were  supposed  to  arise  from  an  impure  state  of  the 
blood,  and  hence  lentor,  tenuity,  and  acrimony  in  that  fluid 
were  supposed  to  be  the  proximate  causes  of  all  the  diseases  of 
the  human  body. 

3.  Dr.  Cullen  lived  and  wrote  in  a  country  in  which  indo- 
lence and  luxury  had  let  loose  a  train  of  diseases  which  ap- 
peared to  be  seated  chiefly  in  the  nervous  system,  and  hence 
we  find  the  laws  of  that  system  have  been  investigated  and 
ascertained  by  him  with  a  success  which  has  no  parallel  in  the 
annals  of  medicine.  In  his  concentrated  views  of  the  nervous 
system  he  has  overlooked,  or  but  slightly  glanced  at  the  pathol- 
ogy  of  the   bloodvessels,   and   by   adopting   the   nosology   of 
Sauvage,  Linnxus,  and  Vogel,  he  has  unfortunately  led  physi- 
cians to  prescribe  for  the  names  of  diseases,  instead  of  their  proxi- 
mate cause. 

4.  In  the  system  of  Dr.  Brown,  we  find  clear  and  consistent 
views  of  the  causes  of  animal  life,  also  just  opinions  of  the  action 
of  heat  and  cold,  of  stimulating,  and  what  are  called  sedative 
medicines,  and  of  the  influence  of  the  passions  in  the  production 
and  cure  of  diseases.  But  while  he  has  thus  shed  light  upon  some 
parts  of  medicine,  he  has  thrown  a  shade  upon  others.  I  shall 
hereafter  take  notice  of  all  the  errors  of  his  system.  At  present 
I  shall  only  say,  I  shall  not  admit  with  him,  debility  to  be  a 
disease.  It  is  only  its  predisposing  cause.  Disease  consists  in 
morbid  excitement,  and  is  always  of  a  partial  nature:  of  course 
I  shall  reject  his  doctrine  of  equality  of  excitement  in  the  morbid 
states  of  the  body,  and  maintain,  that  the  cure  of  diseases  con- 
sists simply  in  restoring  the  equal  and  natural  diffusion  of  ex- 
citement throughout  every  part  of  the  system.  If  Dr.  Cullen  did 


252       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

harm  by  directing  the  attention  of  physicians,  by  means  of  his 
nosology,  only  to  the  names  of  diseases,  how  much  more  mischief 
has  been  done  by  Dr.  Brown,  by  reducing  them  nearly  to  one 
class,  and  accommodating  his  prescriptions  to  the  reverse  state 
of  the  body,  of  that  which  constitutes  their  proximate  cause. 

A  perfect  system  of  medicine  may  be  compared  to  a  house, 
the  different  stories  of  which  have  been  erected  by  different 
architects.  The  illustrious  physicians  who  have  been  named, 
have  a  large  claim  upon  our  gratitude,  for  having,  by  their  great, 
and  successive  labours,  advanced  the  building  to  its  present 
height.  It  belongs  to  the  present  and  future  generations  to  place 
a  roof  upon  it,  and  thereby  to  complete  the  fabric  of  medicine. 

In  the  following  course  of  lectures  I  shall  adopt  such  prin- 
ciples of  Dr.  Boerhaave,  Dr.  Cullen,  and  Dr.  Brawn,  as  I  believe 
to  be  true,  and  shall  add  to  them  such  others,  as  have  been 
suggested  to  me,  by  my  own  observations  and  reflections. 

If,  in  delivering  new  opinions,  I  should  be  so  unfortunate  as 
to  teach  any  thing,  which  subsequent  reflection  or  observation 
should  discover  to  be  erroneous,  I  shall  publicly  retract  it.  I  am 
aware  how  much  I  shall  suffer  by  this  want  of  stability  in  error, 
but  I  have  learned  from  one  of  my  masters  to  "esteem  truth  the 
only  knowledge,  and  that  laboring  to  defend  an  error,  is  only 
striving  to  be  more  ignorant."  * 

Upon  those  parts  of  our  course  on  which  I  am  unable  to 
deliver  principles,  I  shall  lay  before  you  a  simple  detail  of  facts. 
Our  labor  in  this  business  will  not  be  lost,  for,  however  long 
those  facts  may  appear  to  lie  in  a  confused  and  solitary  state, 
they  will  sooner  or  later  unite  in  that  order  and  relation  to  each 
other  which  was  established  at  the  creation  of  the  world.  From 
this  union  of  prerelated  truths,  will  arise,  as  some  future  period, 
a  complete  system  of  principles  in  medicine. 

We  live,  gentlemen,  in  a  revolutionary  age.  Our  science  has 
caught  the  spirit  of  the  times,  and  more  improvements  have  been 

*  The  Rev.  Dr.  Samuel  Finley  many  years  master  of  a  large  academy 
in  Nottingham  in  Maryland,  and  afterwards  President  of  the  College  of 
New-Jersey. 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          253 

made  in  all  its  branches,  within  the  last  twenty  years,  than  had 
been  made  in  a  century  before.  From  these  events,  so  auspicious 
to  medicine,  may  we  not  cherish  a  hope,  that  our  globe  is  about 
to  undergo  those  happy  changes,  which  shall  render  it  a  more 
safe  and  agreeable  abode  to  man,  and  thereby  prepare  it  to  receive 
the  blessing  of  universal  health  and  longevity;  for  premature 
deaths  seem  to  have  arisen  from  the  operation  of  that  infinite 
goodness  which  delivers  from  evils  to  come. 


MEDICINE    AMONG    THE    INDIANS 
OF     NORTH     AMERICA 

A  Discussion 


You  WILL  readily  anticipate  the  difficulty  of  dping  justice  to 
this  subject.  How  shall  we  distinguish  between  the  original 
diseases  of  the  Indians  and  those  contracted  from  their  inter- 
course with  the  Europeans?  By  what  arts  shall  we  persuade 
them  to  discover  their  remedies?  And  lastly,  how  shall  we  come 
at  the  knowledge  of  facts  in  that  cloud  of  errors,  in  which  the 
credulity  of  the  Europeans,  and  the  superstition  of  the  Indians 
have  involved  both  their  diseases  and  remedies?  These  difficulties 
serve  to  increase  the  importance  of  our  subject.  If  I  should  not  be 
able  to  solve  them,  perhaps  I  may  lead  the  way  to  more  success- 
ful endeavours  for  that  purpose. 

I  shall  first  limit  the  tribes  of  Indians  who  are  to  be  the  ob- 
jects of  this  inquiry,  to  those  who  inhabit  that  part  of  North 
America  which  extends  from  the  30th  to  the  6oth  degree  of 
latitude.  When  we  exclude  the  Esquimaux,  who  inhabit  the 
shores  of  Hudson's  Bay,  we  shall  find  a  general  resemblance  in 
the  colour,  manners  and  state  of  society,  among  all  the  tribes 
of  Indians  who  inhabit  the  extensive  tract  of  country  above- 
mentioned. 

Civilians  have  divided  nations  into  savage,  barbarous,  and 
civilized.  The  savage,  live  by  fishing  and  hunting.  The  bar- 
barous, by  pasturage  or  cattle;  and  the  civilized  by  agriculture. 
Each  of  these  is  connected  together  in  such  a  manner,  that  the 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          255 

whole  appear  to  form  different  parts  of  a  circle.  Even  the 
manners  of  the  most  civilized  nations  partake  of  those  of  the 
savage.  It  would  seem  as  if  liberty  and  indolence  were  the  high- 
est pursuits  of  man;  and  these  are  enjoyed  in  their  greatest  per- 
fection by  savages,  or  in  the  practice  of  customs  which  resemble 
those  of  savages. 

The  Indians  of  North  America  partake  chiefly  of  the  man- 
ner of  savages.  In  the  earliest  accounts  we  have  of  them,  we 
find  them  cultivating  a  spot  of  ground.  The  maize  is  an  original 
grain  among  them.  The  different  dishes  of  it  which  are  in  use 
among  the  white  people  still  retain  Indian  names. 

It  will  be  unnecessary  to  show  that  the  Indians  live  in  a  state 
of  society  adapted  to  all  the  exigencies  of  their  mode  of  life. 
Those  who  look  for  the  simplicity  and  perfection  of  the  state 
of  nature,  must  seek  it  in  systems,  as  absurd  in  philosophy,  as 
they  are  delightful  in  poetry. 

Before  we  attempt  to  ascertain  the  number  or  history  of  the 
diseases  of  the  Indians,  it  will  be  necessary  to  inquire  into  those 
customs  among  them  which  we  know  influence  diseases.  For 
this  purpose  I  shall, 

First,  mention  a  few  facts  which  relate  to  the  birth  and  treat- 
ment of  their  children. 

Secondly,  I  shall  speak  of  their  diet. 

Thirdly,  Of  the  customs  which  are  peculiar  to  the  sexes, 
And, 

Fourthly,  Of  those  customs  which  are  common  to  them 
both.* 

*  Many  of  the  facts  contained  in  the  Natural  History  of  Medicine 
among  the  Indians  in  this  Inquiry,  are  taken  from  La  Hontan  and 
Charlevoix's  histories  of  Canada;  but  the  most  material  of  them  are 
taken  from  persons  who  had  lived,  or  travelled  among  the  Indians.  The 
author  acknowledges*  himself  indebted  in  a  particular  manner  to  Mr. 
Edward  Hand,  surgeon  in  the  i8th  regiment,  afterwards  brigadier  gen- 
eral in  the  army  of  the  United  States,  who,  during  several  years'  resi- 
dence at  Fort  Pitt,  directed  his  inquiries  into  their  customs,  diseases,  and 
remedies,  with  a  success  that  does  equal  honour  to  his  ingenuity  and 
diligence. 


256       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

I.  Of  the  birth  and  treatment  of  their  children. 

Much  of  the  future  health  of  the  body  depends  upon  its 
original  stamina.  A  child  born  of  healthy  parents  always  brings 
into  the  world  a  system  formed  by  nature  to  resist  the  causes 
of  diseases.  The  treatment  of  children  among  the  Indians,  tends 
to  secure  this  hereditary  firmness  of  constitution.  Their  first 
food  is  their  mother's  milk.  To  harden  them  against  the  action 
of  heat  and  cold  (the  natural  enemies  of  health  and  life  among 
the  Indians)  they  are  plunged  every  day  in  cold  water.  In  order 
to  facilitate  their  being  moved  from  place  to  place,  and  at  the 
same  time  to  preserve  their  shape  they  are  tied  to  a  board,  where 
they  lie  on  their  backs  for  six,  ten,  or  eighteen  months.  A  child 
generally  sucks  its  mother  till  it  is  two  years  old,  and  sometimes 
longer.  It  is  easy  to  conceive  how  much  vigour  their  bodies  must 
acquire  from  this  simple,  but  wholesome  nourishment.  The  appe- 
tite we  sometimes  observe  in  children  for  flesh  is  altogether 
artificial.  The  peculiar  irritability  of  the  system  in  infancy,  for- 
bids stimulating  aliment  of  all  kinds.  Nature  never  calls  for 
animal  food  till  she  has  provided  the  child  with  those  teeth  which 
are  necessary  to  divide  it.  1  shall  not  undertake  to  determine  how 
far  the  wholesome  quality  of  the  mother's  milk  is  increased  by 
her  refusing  the  embraces  of  her  husband,  during  the  time  of 
giving  suck. 

II.  The  diet  of  the  Indians  is  of  a  mixed  nature,  being  partly 
animal  and  partly  vegetable;  their  animals  are  wild,  and  therefore 
easy  of  digestion.  As  the  Indians  are  naturally  more  disposed  to 
the  indolent  employment  of  fishing  than  hunting  in  summer,  so 
we  find  them  living  more  upon  fish  than  land  animals,  in  that 
season  of  the  year. — Their  vegetables  consist  of  roots  and  fruits, 
mild  in  themselves  or  capable  of  being  made  so  by  the  action 
of  fire.  Although  the  interior  parts  of  our  continent  abound 
with  salt  springs,  yet  I  cannot  find  that  the  Indians  used  salt  in 
their  diet,  rill  they  were  instructed  to  do  so  by  the  Europeans. 
The  small  quantity  of  fixed  alkali  contained  in  the  ashes  on 
which  they  roasted  their  meat,  could  not  add  much  to  its  stim- 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          257 

dating  quality.  They  preserve  their  meat  from  putrefaction,  by 
cutting  it  into  small  pieces,  and  exposing  it  in  summer  to  the 
sun,  and  in  winter  to  the  frost.  In  the  one  case  its  moisture  is 
dissipated,  and  in  the  other  so  frozen,  that  it  cannot  undergo 
the  putrefactive  process.  In  dressing  their  meat,  they  are  careful 
to  preserve  its  juices.  They  generally  prefer  it  in  the  form  of 
soups.  Hence  we  find,  that  among  them  the  use  of  the  spoon 
preceded  that  of  the  knife  and  fork.  They  take  the  same  pains 
to  preserve  the  juice  of  their  meat  when  they  roast  it,  by  turn- 
ing it  often.  The  efficacy  of  this  animal  juice  in  dissolving  meat 
in  the  stomach,  has  not  been  equalled  by  any  of  those  sauces  or 
liquors  which  modern  luxury  has  mixed  with  it  for  that  pur- 
pose. 

The  Indians  have  no  set  time  for  eating,  but  obey  the  gentle 
appetites  of  nature  as  often  as  they  are  called  by  them.  After 
whole  days  spent  in  the  chase  or  in  war,  they  often  commit 
those  excesses  in  eating,  to  which  long  abstinence  cannot  fail 
of  prompting  them.  It  is  common  to  see  them  spend  three  or  four 
hours  in  satisfying  their  hunger.  This  is  occasioned  not  more  by 
the  quantity  they  eat,  than  by  the  pains  they  take  in  masticating 
it.  They  carefully  avoid  drinking  water  in  their  marches,  from 
an  opinion  that  it  lessens  their  ability  to  bear  fatigue. 

III.  We  now  come  to  speak  of  those  customs  which  are 
peculiar  to  the  sexes.  And,  first,  of  those  which  belong  to  the 
WOMEN.  They  are  doomed  by  their  husbands  to  such  domestic 
labour  as  gives  a  firmness  to  their  bodies,  bordering  upon  the 
masculine.  Their  menses  seldom  begin  to  flow  before  they  are 
eighteen  to  twenty  years  of  age,  and  generally  cease  before  they 
are  forty.  They  have  them  in  small  quantities,  but  at  regular 
intervals.  They  seldom  marry  till  they  are  about  twenty.  The 
constitution  has  now  acquired  a  vigour,  which  enables  it  the 
better  to  support  the  convulsions  of  child-bearing.  This  custom 
likewise  guards  against  a  premature  old  age.  Doctor  Bancroft 
ascribes  the  haggard  looks — the  loose  hanging  breasts — and  the 
prominent  bellies  of  the  Indian  women  at  Guiana,  entirely  to 


258       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

their  bearing  children  too  early.*  Where  marriages  are  unfruitful 
(which  is  seldom  the  case)  a  separation  is  obtained  by  means  of 
an  easy  divorce;  so  that  they  are  unacquainted  with  the  dis- 
quietudes which  sometimes  arise  from  barrenness.  During  preg- 
nancy, the  women  are  exempted  from  the  more  laborious  parts 
of  their  duty:  hence  miscarriages  rarely  happen  among  them. 
Nature  is  their  only  midwife.  Their  labours  are  short,  and 
accompanied  with  little  pain.  Each  woman  is  delivered  in  a 
private  cabbin,  without  so  much  as  one  of  her  own  sex  to  attend 
her.  After  washing  herself  in  cold  water,  she  returns  in  a  few 
days  to  her  usual  employments;  so  that  she  knows  nothing  of 
those  accidents  which  proceed  from  the  carelessness  or  ill  man- 
agement of  mid  wives;  or  those  weaknesses  which  arise  from  a 

month's  confinement  in  a  warm  room.  It  is  remarkable  that  there 

«* 

is  hardly  a  period  in  the  interval  between  the  eruption  and  the 
ceasing  of  the  menses,  in  which  they  are  not  pregnant  or  giving 
suck.  This  is  the  most  natural  state  of  the  constitution  during 
that  interval;  and  hence  we  often  find  it  connected  with  the  best 
state  of  health,  in  the  women  of  civilized  nations. 

The  customs  peculiar  to  the  Indian  MEN,  consist  chiefly  in 
those  employments  which  are  necessary  to  preserve  animal  life, 
and  to  defend  their  nation.  These  employments  arc  hunting  and 
war,  each  of  which  is  conducted  in  a  manner  that  tends  to  call 
forth  every  fibre  into  exercise,  and  to  ensure  them  the  possession 
of  the  utmost  possible  health.  In  times  of  plenty  and  peace,  we 
see  them  sometimes  rising  from  their  beloved  indolence,  and  shak- 
ing off  its  influence  by  the  salutary  exercises  of  dancing  and 
swimming.  The  Indian  men  seldom  marry  before  they  are  thirty 
years  of  age:  They  no  doubt  derive  considerable  vigour  from 
this  custom;  for  while  they  are  secured  by  it  from  the  enervating 
effects  of  the  premature  dalliance  of  love,  they  may  ensure  more 
certain  fruitfulness  to  their  wives,  and  entail  more  certain  health 
upon  their  children.  Tacitus  describes  the  same  custom  among 
the  Germans,  and  attributes  to  it  the  same  good  effects.  "Sera 
juvenum  venus,  eoque  inexhausta  pubertas;  nee  virgines  festinan- 

*  Natural  History  of  Guiana. 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          259 

tur;  eadem  juventa,  similis  proceritas,  pares  validique  miscentur; 
ac  robora  parentum  libcri  referunt."  * 

Among  the  Indian  men,  it  is  deemed  a  mark  of  heroism  to 
bear  the  most  exquisite  pain  without  complaining;  upon  this 
account  they  early  inure  themselves  to  burning  part  of  their 
bodies  with  fire,  or  cutting  them  with  sharp  instruments.  No 
young  man  can  be  admitted  to  the  honors  of  manhood  or  war, 
who  has  not  acquitted  himself  well  in  these  trials  of  patience  and 
fortitude.  It  is  easy  to  conceive  how  much  this  contributes  to 
give  a  tone  to  the  nervous  system,  which  renders  it  less  subject 
to  the  occasional  causes  of  diseases. 

IV.  We  come  now  to  speak  of  those  customs  which  are 
common  to  both  sexes:  These  are  PAINTING,  and  use  of  the  COLD 
HATH.  The  practice  of  anointing  the  body  with  oil  is  common 
to  the  savages  of  all  countries;  in  warm  climates  it  is  said  to 
promote  longevity,  by  checking  excessive  perspiration.  "The 
Indians  generally  use  bear's  grease  mixed  with  a  clay,  which 
bears  the  greatest  resemblance  to  the  colour  of  their  skins.  This 
pigment  serves  to  lessen  the  sensibility  of  the  extremities  of  the 
nerves;  it  moreover  fortifies  them  against  the  action  of  those 
exhalations,  which  we  shall  mention  hereafter,  as  a  considerable 
source  of  their  diseases.  The  COLD  BATH  likewise  fortifies  the 
body,  and  renders  it  less  subject  to  those  diseases  which  arise 
from  the  extremes  and  vicissitudes  of  heat  and  cold.  We  shall 
speak  hereafter  of  the  Indian  manner  of  using  it. 

It  is  a  practice  among  the  Indians  never  to  drink  before 
dinner,  when  they  work  or  travel.  Experience  teaches,  that  filling 
the  stomach  with  cold  water  in  the  forenoon,  weakens  the 
appetite,  and  makes  the  system  more  sensible  of  heat  and 
fatigue. 

The  state  of  society  among  the  Indians  excludes  the  influ- 
ence of  most  of  those  passions  which  disorder  the  body.  The 

*  Caesar,  in  his  history  of  the  Gallic  war,  gives  the  same  account  of 
the  ancient  Germans.  His  words  are  "Qui  diutissimi  impubcrcs  per- 
manserunt,  maximam  inter  suos  ferunt  laudem:  hoc  ali  staturam,  ali  vires, 
nervasque  confirmari  putant."  Lib.  vi.  xxi. 


260       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

turbulent  effects  of  anger  are  concealed  in  deep  and  lasting  re- 
sentments. Envy  and  ambition  are  excluded  by  their  equality  of 
power  and  property.  Nor  is  it  necessary  that  the  perfections  of 
the  whole  sex  should  be  ascribed  to  one,  to  induce  them  to 
marry.  "The  weakness  of  love  (says  Dr  Adam  Smith)  which  is 
so  much  indulged  in  ages  of  humanity  and  politeness,  is  regarded 
among  savages  as  the  most  unpardonable  effeminacy.  A  young 
man  would  think  himself  disgraced  for  ever,  if  he  shewed  the 
least  preference  of  one  woman  above  another,  or  did  not  express 
the  most  complete  indifference,  both  about  the  time  when,  and 
the  person  to  whom,  he  was  to  be  married."  *  Thus  are  they 
exempted  from  those  violent  or  lasting  diseases,  which  accom- 
pany the  several  stages  of  such  passions  in  both  sexes  among 
civilized  nations. 

It  is  remarkable  that  there  are  no  deformed  Indians.  Some 
have  suspected  from  this  circumstance,  that  they  put  their  de- 
formed children  to  death;  but  nature  here  acts  the  part  of  an 
unnatural  mother.  The  severity  of  the  Indian  manners  destroys 
them.f 

From  a  review  of  the  customs  of  the  Indians,  we  need  not  be 
surprised  at  the  stateliness,  regularity  of  features,  and  dignity 
of  aspect  by  which  they  are  characterised.  Where  we  observe 
these  among  ourselves,  there  is  always  a  presumption  of  their 
being  accompanied  with  health,  and  a  strong  constitution.  The 
circulation  of  the  blood  is  more  languid  in  the  Indians  than  in 
persons  who  are  in  the  constant  exercise  of  the  habits  of  civilised 
life.  Out  of  eight  Indian  men  whose  pulses  I  once  examined  at 
the  wrists,  I  did  not  meet  with  one  in  whom  the  artery  beat  more 
than  sixty-four  strokes  in  a  minute. 

The  marks  of  old  age  appear  more  early  among  Indian,  than 
among  civilized  nations. 

*  Theory  of  Moral  Sentiments. 

t  Since  the  intercourse  of  the  white  people  with  the  Indians,  we  find 
some  of  them  deformed  in  their  limbs.  This  deformity,  upon  inquiry, 
appears  to  be  produced  by  those  accidents,  quarrels,  &c.  which  have  been 
introduced  among  them  by  spirituous  liquors. 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          261 

Having  finished  our  inquiry  into  the  physical  customs  of  the 
Indians,  we  shall  now  proceed  to  inquire  into  their  diseases. 

A  celebrated  professor  of  anatomy  has  asserted,  that  we 
could  not  tell  by  reasoning  a  priori,  that  the  body  was  mortal, 
so  intimately  woven  with  its  texture  are  the  principles  of  life. 
Lord  Bacon  declares,  that  the  only  cause  of  death  which  is  natu- 
ral to  man,  is  that  from  old  age;  and  complains  of  the  imperfec- 
tion of  physic,  in  not  being  able  to  guard  the  principle  of  life, 
until  the  whole  of  the  oil  that  feeds  it  is  consumed.  We  cannot 
admit  of  this  proposition  of  our  noble  philosopher.  In  the  in- 
ventory of  the  grave  in  every  country,  we  find  more  of  the  spoils 
of  youth  and  manhood  than  of  age.  This  must  be  attributed  to 
moral  as  well  as  physical  causes. 

We  need  only  recollect  the  custom  among  the  Indians,  of 
sleeping  in  the  open  air  in  a  variable  climate — the  alternate  action 
of  heat  and  cold  upon  their  bodies,  to  which  the  warmth  of  their 
cabins  exposes  them — their  long  marches — their  excessive  exer- 
cise— their  intemperance  in  eating,  to  which  their  long  fasting, 
and  their  public  feasts  naturally  prompt  them;  and,  lastly,  the 
vicinity  of  their  habitations  to  the  banks  of  rivers,  in  order  to 
discover  the  empire  of  diseases  among  them  in  every  stage  of 
their  lives.  They  have  in  vain  attempted  to  elude  the  general 
laws  of  mortality,  while  their  mode  of  life  subjects  them  to  these 
remote,  but  certain  causes  of  diseases. 

From  what  we  know  of  the  action  of  these  potentix  nocentes 
upon  the  human  body,  it  will  hardly  be  necessary  to  appeal  to 
facts  to  determine  that  FEVERS  constitute  the  only  diseases  among 
the  Indians.  These  fevers  are  occasioned  by  the  sensible  and  in- 
sensible qualities  of  the  air.  Those  which  are  produced  by  cold, 
are  of  the  inflammatory  kind,  such  as  pleurisies,  peripneunionies, 
and  rheumatisms.  Those  which  are  produced  by  the  insensible 
qualities  of  the  air,  or  by  putrid  exhalations,  are  intermitting,  re- 
mitting, and  inflammatory,  according  as  the  exhalations  are  com- 
bined with  more  or  less  heat  or  cold.  The  DYSENTERY  (which  is 
an  Indian  disease)  comes  under  the  class  of  fevers.  It  appears  to 
be  the  febris  introversa  of  Dr.  Sydenham. 


t6i       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

The  Indians  are  subject  to  ANIMAL  and  VEGETABLE  POISONS. 
The  effects  of  these  upon  the  body,  are  in  some  degree  analogous 
to  the  exhalations  we  have  mentioned.  When  they  do  not  bring 
on  sudden  death,  they  produce,  according  to  their  malignity, 
either  an  inflammatory  or  putrid  fever. 

The  SMALL  POX  and  the  VENEREAL  DISEASE  were  communi- 
cated to  the  Indians  in  North-America  by  the  Europeans.  Nor 
can  I  find  that  they  were  ever  subject  to  the  SCURVY.  Whether 
this  was  obviated  by  their  method  of  preserving  their  flesh,  or 
by  their  mixing  it  at  all  times  with  vegetables,  I  shall  not  under- 
take to  determine.  Dr  Maclurg  ascribes  to  fresh  meat  an  anti- 
septic quality.*  The  peculiar  customs  and  manners  of  life  among 
the  Indians,  seem  to  have  exempted  them  from  these,  as  well 
as  all  other  diseases  of  the  fluids.  The  leprosy,  elephantiasis, 
scurvy,  and  venereal  disease,  appear  to  be  different  modifications 
of  the  same  primary  disorder.  The  same  causes  produce  them  in 
every  age  and  country.  They  are  diversified  like  plants  by  cli- 
mate and  nourishment.  They  all  sprung  originally  from  a  moist 
atmosphere  and  unwholesome  diet;  hence  we  read  of  their  pre- 
vailing so  much  in  the  middle  centuries,  when  the  principal  parts 
of  Europe  were  overflowed  with  water,  and  the  inhabitants 
lived  entirely  on  fish,  and  a  few  unwholesome  vegetables.  The 
abolition  of  the  feudal  system  in  Europe,  by  introducing  free- 
dom, introduced  at  the  same  time  agriculture;  which  by  multi- 
plying the  fruits  of  the  earth  lessened  the  consumption  of  animal 
food,  and  thus  put  a  stop  to  these  disorders.  The  elephantiasis 
is  almost  unknown  in  Europe.  The  leprosy  is  confined  chiefly 
to  the  low  countries  of  Africa.  The  plica  polonica  once  so  com- 
mon in  Poland,  is  to  be  found  only  in  books  of  medicine.  The 
small  pox  is  no  longer  a  fatal  disorder,  when  the  body  is  pre- 
pared for  its  reception  by  a  vegetable  regimen.  Even  the  plague 
itself  is  losing  its  sting.  It  is  hardly  dreaded  at  this  time  in  Turkey; 
and  its  very  existence  is  preserved  there  by  the  doctrine  of 
fatalism,  which  prevails  among  the  inhabitants  of  that  country. 

*  Experiments  on  the  Bile,  and  Reflections  on  the  Biliary  Secretion. 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          263 

It  may  serve  as  a  new  and  powerful  motive  against  political 
slavery  to  observe,  that  it  is  connected  with  those  diseases  which 
most  deform  and  debase  the  human  body,  it  may  likewise  serve 
to  enhance  the  blessings  of  liberty,  to  trace  its  effects,  in  eradi- 
cating such  loathsome  and  destructive  disorders.* 

I  have  heard  of  two  or  three  cases  of  the  GOUT  among  the 
Indians,  but  it  was  only  among  those  who  had  learned  the  use 

*  Muratori,  in  his  Antiquities  of  Italy  in  the  middle  ages,  describes 
the  greatest  part  of  Europe  as  overflowed  with  water.  The  writings  of 
the  historians  of  those  ages  are  full  of  the  physical  and  political  miseries 
which  prevailed  during  those  centuries.  The  whole  of  the  diseases  we 
have  mentioned,  raged  at  one  time  in  all  the  countries  of  Europe.  In  the 
ninth  century  there  were  19,000  hospitals  for  lepers  only,  in  Christendom. 
Louis  VIII.  king  of  France,  in  the  year  1227,  bequeathed  legacies  to  2000 
leprous  hospitals  in  his  own  kingdom.  The  same  diet,  and  the  same 
dampness  of  soil  and  air,  produced  the  same  effects  in  South-America. 
The  venereal  disease  probably  made  its  appearance  at  the  same  time  in 
South  America  and  Naples.  (Precis  de  1'histoire  physique  des  terns,  par 
M.  Raymond.)  The  leprosy  and  scurvy  still  prevail  in  the  northern  parts 
of  Europe,  where  the  manner  of  living,  among  the  inhabitants,  still  bears 
some  resemblance  to  that  which  prevailed  in  the  middle  centuries.  Pon- 
topiddan's  natural  history  of  Norway.  Between  the  years  1006  and  1680, 
we  read  of  the  plague  being  epidemic  fifty-two  times  throughout  all 
Europe.  The  situation  of  Europe  is  well  known  during  the  fourteenth 
century:  every  country  was  in  arms;  agriculture  was  neglected;  nourish- 
ment of  all  kinds  was  scanty  and  unwholesome;  no  wonder,  therefore, 
that  we  read  of  the  plague  being  fourteen  times  epidemic  in  Europe 
during  that  period.  In  proportion  as  the  nations  of  Europe  have  become 
civilized,  and  cultivated  the  earth,  together  with  the  arts  of  peace,  this 
disorder  has  gradually  mitigated.  It  prevailed  only  six  times  in  the  six- 
teenth, and  five  times  in  the  seventeenth  centuries.  It  made  its  last  gen- 
eral appearance  in  the  year  1680.  It  has  occasionally  visited  several  cities 
in  Europe  within  the  last  century,  but  has  raged  with  much  less  violence 
than  formerly.  It  is  highly  probable  its  very  existence  would  be  destroyed, 
could  the  inhabitants  of  Turkey  (where  it  is  at  all  times  endemic)  be 
prevailed  upon  to  use  the  same  precautions  to  prevent  its  spreading,  which 
have  been  found  successful  in  other  parts  of  Europe.  The  British,  and 
other  foreigners,  who  reside  at  Constantinople,  escape  the  plague  more 
by  avoiding  all  intercourse  with  persons,  houses,  clothes,  &c.  infected 
with  the  disorder,  than  by  any  peculiarities  in  their  diet  or  manners.  The 
use  of  wine  alone  does  not  preserve  them  from  the  infection,  we  learn 
from  the  history  of  the  Armenians,  who  drink  large  quantities  of  wine; 
and  yet,  from  their  belief  in  the  doctrine  of  fatalism,  perish  in  the  same 
proportion  as  the  Turks. 


264       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

of  rum  from  the  white  people.  A  question  naturally  occurs  here, 
and  that  is,  why  does  not  the  gout  appear  more  frequently  among 
that  class  of  people,  who  consume  the  greatest  quantity  of  rum 
among  ourselves?  To  this  I  answer,  that  the  effects  of  this  liquor 
upon  those  enfeebled  people,  are  too  sudden  and  violent,  to 
admit  of  their  being  thrown  upon  the  extremities;  as  we  know 
them  to  be  among  the  Indians.  They  appear  only  in  visceral 
obstructions,  and  a  complicated  train  of  chronic  diseases.  Thus 
putrid  miasmata  are  sometimes  too  strong  to  bring  on  a  fever, 
but  produce  instant  debility  and  death.  The  gout  is  seldom 
heard  of  in  Russia,  Denmark,  or  Poland.  Is  this  occasioned  by 
the  vigour  of  constitution  peculiar  to  the  inhabitants  of  those 
northern  countries?  or  is  it  caused  by  their  excessive  use  of 
spirituous  liquors,  which  produce  the  same  chrpnic  complaints 
among  them,  which  we  said  were  common  among  the  lower 
class  of  people  in  this  country?  The  familiarity  of  their  diseases 
makes  the  last  of  these  suppositions  the  most  probable.  The 
effects  of  wine,  like  tyranny  in  a  well  formed  government,  are 
felt  first  in  the  extremities;  while  spirits,  like  a  bold  invader, 
seize  at  once  upon  the  vitals  of  the  constitution. 

After  much  inquiry,  I  have  not  been  able  to  find  a  single 
instance  of  MADNESS,  MELANCHOLY,  or  FATUITY  among  the  In- 
dians; nor  can  I  find  any  accounts  of  diseases  from  WORMS  among 
them.  Worms  are  common  to  most  animals;  they  produce  dis- 
eases only  in  weak,  or  increase  them  in  strong  constitutions.* 
Hence  they  have  no  place  in  the  nosological  systems  of  physic. 
Nor  does  DENTITION  appear  to  be  a  disorder  among  the  Indians. 
The  facility  with  which  the  healthy  children  of  healthy  parents 
cut  their  teeth  among  civilized  nations,  gives  us  reason  to  con- 
clude that  the  Indian  children  never  suffer  from  this  quarter. 

The  Indians  appear  moreover  to  be  strangers  to  diseases  and 
pains  in  the  teeth. 

*  Indian  children  are  not  exempted  from  worms.  It  is  common  with 
the  Indians,  when  a  fever  in  their  children  is  ascribed  by  the  white  people 
to  worms,  (from  their  being  discharged  occasionally  in  their  stools)  to 
say,  "the  fever  makes  the  worms  come,  and  not  the  worms  the  fever." 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          265 

The  employments  of  the  Indians  subject  them  to  many  acci- 
dents; hence  we  sometimes  read  of  WOUNDS,  FRACTURES,  and 
LUXATIONS  among  them. 

Having  thus  pointed  out  the  natural  diseases  of  the  Indians, 
and  shewn  what  disorders  are  foreign  to  them,  we  may  venture 
to  conclude,  that  FEVERS,  OLD  AGE,  CASUALTIES  and  WAR,  are  the 
only  natural  outlets  of  human  life.  War  is  nothing  but  a  dis- 
temper; it  is  founded  in  the  imperfection  of  political  bodies,  just 
as  fevers  are  founded  on  the  weakness  of  the  animal  body. — 
Providence  in  these  diseases  seems  to  act  like  a  mild  legislature 
which  mitigates  the  severity  of  death,  by  inflicting  it  in  a  man- 
ner the  least  painful  upon  the  whole  to  the  patient  and  the 
survivors. 

Let  us  now  inquire  into  the  REMEDIES  of  the  Indians.  These, 
like  their  diseases,  are  simple,  and  few  in  number. 

It  will  be  difficult  to  find  the  exact  order  in  which  the 
Indian  remedies  were  suggested  by  nature  or  discovered  by  art; 
nor  will  it  be  easy  to  arrange  them  in  proper  order.  I  shall  how- 
ever attempt  it,  by  reducing  them  to  NATURAL  and  ARTIFICIAL. 

To  the  class  of  NATURAL  REMEDIES  belongs  the  Indian  prac- 
tice of  abstracting  from  their  patients  all  kinds  of  stimulating 
aliment.  The  compliance  of  the  Indians  with  the  dictates  of 
nature,  in  the  early  stage  of  a  disorder,  no  doubt,  prevents  in 
many  cases  their  being  obliged  to  use  any  other  remedy.  They 
follow  nature  still  closer,  in  allowing  their  patients  to  drink 
plentifully  of  cold  water;  this  being  the  only  liquor  a  patient 
calls  for  in  the  fever. 

Sweating  is  likewise  a  natural  remedy.  It  was  probably  sug- 
gested by  observing  fevers  to  be  terminated  by  it.  I  shall  not 
inquire  how  far  these  sweats  are  essential  to  the  crisis  of  a  fever. 
The  Indian  mode  of  procuring  this  evacuation  is  as  follows:  the 
patient  is  confined  in  a  close  tent,  or  wigwam,  over  a  hole  in 
the  earth,  in  which  a  red  hot  stone  is  placed;  a  quantity  of  water 
is  thrown  upon  this  stone,  which  instantly  involves  the  patient 
in  a  cloud  of  vapour  and  sweat;  in  this  situation  he  rushes  out, 
and  plunges  himself  into  a  river;  from  whence  he  retires  to  his 


266       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

bed.  If  the  remedy  has  been  used  with  success,  he  rises  from  his 
bed  in  four  and  twenty  hours,  perfectly  recovered  from  his  in- 
disposition. This  remedy  is  used  not  only  to  cure  fevers,  but 
remove  that  uneasiness  which  arises  from  fatigue  of  body. 

A  third  natural  remedy  among  the  Indians,  is  PURGING.  The 
fruits  of  the  earth,  the  flesh  of  birds,  and  other  animals  feeding 
upon  particular  vegetables,  and  above  all  the  spontaneous  efforts 
of  nature,  early  led  the  Indians  to  perceive  the  necessity  and 
advantages  of  this  evacuation. 

VOMITS  constitute  their  fourth  natural  remedy.  They  were 
probably,  like  the  former,  suggested  by  nature,  and  accident. 
The  ipecacuanha  is  one  of  the  many  roots  they  employ  for  this 
purpose. 

The  ARTIFICIAL  REMEDIES  made  use  of  by  the  Indians,  are 
BLEEDING,  CAUSTICS,  and  ASTRINGENT  medicines.  They  confine 
bleeding  entirely  to  the  part  affected.  To  know  that  opening  a 
vein  in  the  arm,  or  foot,  would  relieve  a  pain  in  the  head  or  side, 
supposes  some  knowledge  of  the  animal  economy,  and  therefore 
marks  an  advanced  period  in  the  history  of  medicine. 

Sharp  stones  and  thorns  are  the  instruments  they  use  to 
procure  a  discharge  of  blood. 

We  have  an  account  of  the  Indians  using  something  like  a 
POTENTIAL  CAUSTIC,  in  obstinate  pains.  It  consists  of  a  piece  of 
rotten  wood  called  punk,  which  they  place  upon  the  part 
affected,  and  afterwards  set  it  on  fire;  the  fire  gradually  con- 
sumes the  wood,  and  its  ashes  bum  a  hole  in  the  flesh. 

The  undue  efforts  of  nature,  in  those  fevers  which  are  con- 
nected with  a  diarrhoea,  or  dysentery,  together  with  those  hem- 
orrhages to  which  their  mode  of  life  exposed  them,  necessarily 
led  them  to  an  early  discovery  of  some  ASTRINGENT  VEGETABLES. 
I  am  uncertain  whether  the  Indians  rely  upon  astringent,  or  any 
other  vegetables,  for  the  cure  of  the  intermitting  fever.  This 
disease  among  them  probably  requires  no  other  remedies  than 
the  cold  bath,  or  cold  air.  Its  greater  obstinacy,  as  well  as  fre- 
quency among  ourselves,  must  be  sought  for  in  the  greater 
feebleness  of  our  constitutions;  and  in  that  change  which  our 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          267 

country  has  undergone,  from  meadows,  mill-dams  and  the  cut- 
ting down  of  woods;  whereby  morbid  exhalations  have  been 
multiplied,  and  their  passage  rendered  more  free,  through  every 
part  of  country. 

This  is  a  short  account  of  the  remedies  of  the  Indians.  If 
they  are  simple,  they  are,  like  their  eloquence,  full  of  strength; 
if  they  are  few  in  number,  they  are  accommodated,  as  their 
languages  are  to  their  ideas,  to  the  whole  of  their  diseases. 

We  said,  formerly,  that  the  Indians  were  subject  to  ACCI- 
DENTS, such  as  wounds,  fractures,  and  the  like.  In  these  cases, 
nature  performs  the  office  of  a  surgeon.  We  may  judge  of  her 
qualifications  for  this  office,  by  observing  the  marks  of  wounds 
and  fractures,  which  are  sometimes  discovered  on  wild  animals. 
But  further,  what  is  the  practice  of  our  modern  surgeons  in 
these  cases?  Is  it  not  to  lay  aside  plasters  and  ointments,  and  trust 
the  whole  to  nature?  Those  ulcers  which  require  the  assistance 
of  mercury,  bark,  and  a  particular  regimen  are  unknown  to  the 
Indians. 

The  HEMORRHAGES  which  sometimes  follow  their  wounds, 
are  restrained  by  plunging  themselves  into  cold  water,  and 
thereby  producing  a  constriction  upon  the  bleeding  vessels. 

Their  practice  of  attempting  to  recover  DROWNED  PEOPLE,  is 
irrational  and  unsuccessful.  It  consists  in  suspending  the  patient 
by  the  heels,  in  order  that  the  water  may  flow  from  his  mouth. 
This  practice  is  founded  on  a  belief  that  the  patient  dies  from 
swallowing  an  excessive  quantity  of  water.  But  modern  observa- 
tion teaches  us  that  drowned  people  die  from  another  cause. 
This  discovery  has  suggested  a  method  of  cure,  directly  opposite 
to  that  ip  use  among  the  Indians;  and  has  shewn  us  that  the 
practice  of  suspending  by  the  heels  is  hurtful. 

I  do  not  find  that  the  Indians  ever  suffer  in  their  limbs  from 
the  action  of  COLD  upon  them.  Their  moccasins,  by  allowing 
their  feet  to  move  freely,  and  thereby  promoting  the  circulation 
of  the  blood,  defend  their  lower  extremities  in  the  daytime,  and 
their  practice  of  sleeping  with  their  feet  near  a  fire,  defends 
them  from  the  morbid  effects  of  cold  at  night.  In  those  cases 


268       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

where  the  motion  of  their  feet  in  their  moccasins  is  not  sufficient 
to  keep  them  warm,  they  break  the  ice,  and  restore  their  warmth 
by  exposing  them  for  a  short  time  to  the  stimulus  of  cold  water.f 

We  have  heard  much  of  their  specific  antidotes  to  the 
VENEREAL  DISEASE.  In  the  accounts  of  these  antivenereal  medi- 
cines, some  abatement  should  be  made  for  that  love  of  the  mar- 
vellous, and  of  novelty,  which  are  apt  to  creep  into  the  writings 
of  travellers  and  physicians.  How  many  medicines  which  were 
once  thought  infallible  in  this  disorder,  are  now  rejected  from 
the  materia  medica!  I  have  found  upon  enquiry  that  the  Indians 
always  assist  their  medicines  in  this  disease,  by  a  regimen  which 
promotes  perspiration.  Should  we  allow  that  mercury  acts  as  a 
specific  in  destroying  this  disorder,  it  does  not  follow  that  it  is 
proof  against  the  efficacy  of  medicines  which  act^more  mechani- 
cally upon  the  body.* 

There  cannot  be  a  stronger  mark  of  the  imperfect  state  of 
knowledge  in  medicine  among  the  Indians,  than  their  method 
of  treating  the  SMALLPOX.  We  are  told  that  they  plunge  them- 
selves in  cold  water  in  the  beginning  of  the  disorder,  and  that 
it  generally  proves  fatal  to  them. 

Travellers  speak  in  high  terms  of  the  Indian  ANTIDOTES  to 
POISONS.  We  must  remember,  that  many  things  have  been 
thought  poisonous,  which  later  experience  hath  proved  to  possess 
no  unwholesome  quality.  Moreover,  the  uncertainty  and  variety 
in  the  operation  of  poisons,  renders  it  extremely  difficult  to  fix 
the  certainty  of  the  antidotes  to  them.  How  many  specifics  have 
derived  their  credit  for  preventing  the  hydrophobia,  from  per- 

t  It  was  remarked  in  Canada,  in  the  winter  of  the  year  1759,  during 
the  war  before  last,  that  none  of  those  soldiers  who  wore  moccasins  were 
frost-bitten,  while  few  of  those  escaped  that  were  much  exposed  to  the 
cold  who  wore  shoes. 

*  I  cannot  help  suspecting  the  antivenereal  qualities  of  the  lobelia, 
ceanothus  and  ranunculus,  spoken  of  by  Mr  Kalm,  in  the  memoirs  of  the 
Swedish  academy.  Mr  Hand  informed  me,  that  the  Indians  rely  chiefly 
upon  a  plentiful  use  of  the  decoctions  of  the  pine-trees,  against  the 
venereal  disease.  He  added  moreover,  that  he  had  often  known  this  disease 
prove  fatal  to  them. 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          269 

sons  being  wounded  by  animals,  who  were  not  in  a  situation 
to  produce  that  disorder!  If  we  may  judge  of  all  the  Indian 
antidotes  to  poisons,  by  those  which  have  fallen  into  our  hands, 
we  have  little  reason  to  ascribe  much  to  them  in  any  cases  what- 
ever. 

I  have  heard  of  their  performing  several  remarkable  cures 
upon  STIFF  JOINTS,  by  an  infusion  of  certain  herbs  in  water.  The 
mixture  of  several  herbs  together  in  this  infusion  calls  in  question 
the  specific  efficacy  of  each  of  them.  I  cannot  help  attributing 
the  whole  success  of  this  remedy  to  the  great  heat  of  the  water 
in  which  the  herbs  were  boiled,  and  to  its  being  applied  for  a 
long  time  to  the  part  affected.  We  find  the  same  medicine  to 
vary  frequently  in  its  success,  according  to  its  strength,  or  to 
the  continuance  of  its  application.  De  Haen  attributes  the  good 
effects  of  electricity,  entirely  to  its  being  used  for  several  months. 

I  have  met  with  one  case  upon  record  of  their  aiding  nature 
in  PARTURITION.  Captain  Carver  gives  us  an  account  of  an  Indian 
woman  in  a  difficult  labour,  being  suddenly  delivered  in  conse- 
quence of  a  general  convulsion  induced  upon  her  system,  by 
stopping,  for  a  short  time,  her  mouth  and  nose,  so  as  to  obstruct 
her  breathing. 

We  are  sometimes  amused  with  accounts  of  Indian  remedies 
for  the  DROPSY,  EPILEPSY,  COLIC,  GRAVEL  and  GOUT.  If,  with  all 
the  advantages  which  modern  physicians  derive  from  their 
knowledge  in  ANATOMY,  CHEMISTRY,  BOTANY  and  PHILOSOPHY; 
if,  with  the  benefit  of  discoveries  communicated  from  abroad, 
as  well  as  handed  down  from  our  ancestors,  by  more  certain 
methods  than  tradition,  we  are  still  ignorant  of  certain  remedies 
for  these  diseases;  what  can  we  expect  from  the  Indians,  who 
are  not  only  deprived  of  these  advantages,  but  want  our  chief 
motive,  the  sense  of  the  pain  and  danger  of  those  disorders  to 
prompt  them  to  seek  for  such  remedies  to  relieve  them?  There 
cannot  be  a  stronger  proof  of  their  ignorance  of  proper  remedies 
for  new  or  difficult  diseases,  than  their  having  recourse  to  en- 
chantment. But  to  be  more  particular;  I  have  taken  pains  to 
inquire  into  the  success  of  some  of  these  Indian  specifics,  and 


27o       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

have  never  heard  of  one  well  attested  case  of  their  efficacy.  I 
believe  they  derive  all  their  credit  from  our  being  ignorant  of 
their  composition.  The  influence  of  secrecy  is  well  known  in 
establishing  the  credit  of  a  medicine.  The  sal  seignette  was  an 
infallible  medicine  for  the  intermitting  fever,  while  the  manu- 
factory of  it  was  confined  to  an  apothecary  at  Rochelle;  but  it 
lost  its  virtues  as  soon  as  it  was  found  to  be  composed  of  the 
acid  of  tartar  and  the  fossil  alkali.  Dr  Ward's  famous  pill  and 
drop  ceased  to  do  wonders  in  scrophulous  cases  as  soon  as  he 
bequeathed  to  the  world  his  receipts  for  making  them. 

I  foresee  an  objection  to  what  has  been  said  concerning  the 
remedies  of  the  Indians,  drawn  from  that  knowledge  which  ex- 
perience gives  to  a  mind  intent  upon  one  subject.  We  have  heard 
much  of  the  perfection  of  their  senses  of  seeing  and  hearing. 
An  Indian,  we  are  told,  will  discover  not  only  a  particular  tribe 
of  Indians  by  their  footsteps,  but  the  distance  of  time  in  which 
they  were  made.  In  those  branches  of  knowledge  which  relate 
to  hunting  and  war,  the  Indians  have  acquired  a  degree  of  per- 
fection that  has  not  been  equalled  by  civilized  nations.  But  we 
must  remember,  that  medicine  among  them  does  not  enjoy  the 
like  advantages  with  the  arts  of  war  and  hunting,  of  being  the 
chief  object  of  their  attention.  The  physician  and  the  warrior 
are  united  in  one  character;  to  render  him  as  able  in  the  former 
as  he  is  in  the  latter  profession,  would  require  an  entire  abstrac- 
tion from  every  other  employment,  and  a  familiarity  with  ex- 
ternal objects,  which  are  incompatible  with  the  wandering  life 
of  savages. 

Thus  we  have  finished  our  inquiry  into  the  diseases  and 
remedies  of  the  Indians  in  North-America.  We  come  now  to 
inquire  into  the  diseases  and  remedies  of  civilized  nations. 

Nations  differ  in  their  degrees  of  civilization.  We  shall  select 
one  for  the  subject  of  our  enquiries  which  is  most  familiar  to 
us;  I  mean  the  British  nation.  Here  we  behold  subordination 
and  classes  of  mankind  established  by  government,  commerce, 
manufactures,  and  certain  customs  common  to  most  of  the  civi- 
lized nations  of  Europe.  We  shall  trace  the  origin  of  their  dis- 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          271 

eases  through  their  customs  in  the  same  manner  as  we  did  those 
of  the  Indians. 

I.  It  will  be  sufficient  to  name  the  degrees  of  heat,  the  im- 
proper aliment,  the  tight  dresses,  and  the  premature  studies  chil- 
dren are  exposed  to,  in  order  to  show  the  ample  scope  for  dis- 
eases, which  is  added  to  the  original  defect  of  stamina  they  derive 
from  their  ancestors. 

II.  Civilization  rises  in  its  demands  upon  the  health  of  women. 
Their  fashions;  their  dress  and  diet;  their  eager  pursuits  and 
ardent  enjoyment  of  pleasure;  their  indolence  and  undue  evacua- 
tions in  pregnancy;  their  cordials,  hot  regimen  and  neglect  or 
use  of  art,  in  child-birth,  are  all  so  many  inlets  to  diseases. 

Humanity  would  fain  be  silent,  while  philosophy  calls  upon 
us  to  mention  the  effects  of  interested  marriages,  and  of  disap- 
pointments in  love,  increased  by  that  concealment  which  the 
tyranny  of  custom  has  imposed  upon  the  sex.*  Each  of  these 
exaggerates  the  natural,  and  increases  the  number  of  artificial 
diseases  among  women. 

III.  The  diseases  introduced  by  civilization  extend  them- 
selves through  every  class  and  profession  among  men.  How  fatal 
are  the  effects  of  idleness  and  intemperance  among  the  rich,  and 
of  hard  labor  and  penury  among  the  poor!  What  pallid  looks 
are  contracted  by  the  votaries  of  science  from  hanging  over  the 
"sickly  taper!"  Flow  many  diseases  are  entailed  upon  manufac- 
turers, by  the  materials  in  which  they  work,  and  the  posture 
of  their  bodies!   What  monkish  diseases  do  we  observe  from 
monkish  continence  and  monkish  vices!  We  pass  over  the  in- 
crease of  accidents  from  building,  sailing,  riding,  and  the  like. 
War,  as  if  too  slow  in  destroying  the  human  species,  calls  in  a 

*  "Married  women  are  more  healthy  and  long-lived  than  single 
women.  The  registers,  examined  by  Mr  Muret,  confirm  this  observation; 
and  show  particularly,  that  of  equal  numbers  of  single  and  married 
women  between  fifteen  and  twenty-five  years  of  age,  more  of  the  former 
died  than  of  the  latter,  in  the  proportion  of  two  to  one:  the  consequence, 
therefore,  of  following  nature  must  be  favourable  to  health  among  the 
female  sex."  Supplement  to  Price's  Observations  on  Reversionary  Pay- 
ments, p.  357. 


272       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

train  of  diseases  peculiar  to  civilized  nations.  What  havock  have 
the  corruption  and  monopoly  of  provisions,  a  damp  soil,  and  an 
unwholesome  sky,  made,  in  a  few  days,  in  an  army!  The  achieve- 
ments of  British  valour  at  the  Havannah,  in  the  last  war,  were 
obtained  at  the  expence  of  9,000  men,  7,000  of  whom  perished 
with  the  West  India  fever.*  Even  our  modern  discoveries  in 
geography,  by  extending  the  empire  of  commerce,  have  likewise 
extended  the  empire  of  diseases.  What  desolation  have  the  East 
and  West  Indies  made  of  British  subjects!  It  has  been  found 
upon  a  nice  calculation,  that  only  ten  of  an  hundred  Europeans, 
live  above  seven  years  after  they  arrive  in  the  island  of  Jamaica. 

IV.  It  would  take  up  too  much  of  our  time  to  point  out  all 
the  customs  both  physical  and  moral^  which  influence  diseases 
among  both  sexes.  The  former  have  engendered  the  seeds  of 
diseases  in  the  human  body  itself:  hence  the  origin  of  catarrhs, 
jail  and  miliary  fevers,  with  a  long  train  of  contagious  disorders, 
which  compose  so  great  a  part  of  our  books  of  medicine.  The 
latter  likewise  have  a  large  share  in  producing  diseases.  I  am  not 
one  of  those  modern  philosophers,  who  derive  the  vices  of 
mankind  from  the  influence  of  civilization;  but  I  am  safe  in 
asserting,  that  their  number  and  malignity  increase  with  the 
refinements  of  polished  life.  To  prove  this,  we  need  only  survey 
a  scene  too  familiar  to  affect  us:  it  is  a  bedlam;  which  injustice, 
inhumanity,  avarice,  pride,  vanity,  and  ambition,  have  filled  with 
inhabitants. 

Thus  have  we  briefly  pointed  out  the  customs  which  influ- 
ence the  diseases  of  civilized  nations.  It  remains  now  that  we 

*  The  modern  writers  upon  the  diseases  of  armies,  wonder  that  the 
Greek  and  Roman  physicians  have  left  us  nothing  upon  that  subject.  But 
may  not  most  of  the  diseases  of  armies  be  produced  by  the  different  man- 
ner in  which  wars  are  carried  on  by  the  modern  nations?  The  discoveries 
in  geography,  by  extending  the  field  of  war,  expose  soldiers  to  many 
diseases  from  long  voyages,  and  a  sudden  change  of  climate;  which  were 
unknown  to  the  armies  of  former  ages.  Moreover,  the  form  of  the 
weapons,  and  the  variety  in  the  military  exercises  of  the  Grecian  and 
Roman  armies,  gave  a  vigour  to  the  constitution,  which  can  never  be 
acquired  by  the  use  of  muskets  and  artillery. 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          273 

take  notice  of  their  diseases.  Without  naming  the  many  new 
fevers,  fluxes,  hemorrhages,  swellings  from  water,  wind,  flesh, 
fat,  pus  and  blood;  foulnesses  on  the  skin  from  cancers,  leprosy, 
yawes,  poxes,  and  itch;  and  lastly,  the  gout,  the  hysteria,  and  the 
hypocondriasis,  in  all  their  variety  of  known  and  unknown 
shapes;  I  shall  sum  up  all  that  is  necessary  upon  this  subject, 
by  adding,  that  the  number  of  diseases  which  belong  to  civilized 
nations,  according  to  Doctor  Cullen's  nosology,  amounts  to 
1387;  the  single  class  of  nervous  diseases  form  6 1 2  of  this  number. 

Before  we  proceed  to  speak  of  the  remedies  of  civilized 
nations,  we  shall  examine  into  the  abilities  of  NATURE  in  curing 
their  diseases.  We  found  her  active  and  successful  in  curing  the 
diseases  of  the  Indians.  Is  her  strength,  wisdom,  or  benignity, 
equal  to  the  increase  of  those  dangers  which  threaten  her  disso- 
lution among  civilized  nations?  In  order  to  answer  this  question, 
it  will  be  necessary  to  explain  the  meaning  of  the  term  nature. 

By  nature,  in  the  present  case,  I  understand  nothing  but 
physical  necessity.  This  at  once  excludes  every  thing  like  intelli- 
gence from  her  operations:  these  are  all  performed  in  obedience 
to  the  same  laws  which  govern  vegetation  in  plants  and  the 
intestine  motions  of  fossils.  They  are  as  truly  mechanical  as  the 
laws  of  gravitation,  electricity  or  magnetism.  A  ship  when  laid 
on  her  broadside  by  a  wave,  or  a  sudden  blast  of  wind,  rises  by 
the  simple  laws  of  her  mechanism;  but  suppose  this  ship  be 
attacked  by  fire,  or  a  water-spou't,  we  are  not  to  call  in  question 
the  skill  of  the  ship-builder,  if  she  be  consumed  by  the  one,  or 
sunk  by  the  other.  In  like  manner,  the  Author  of  nature  hath 
furnished  the  body  with  powers  to  preserve  itself  from  its 
natural  enemies;  but  when  it  is  attacked  by  those  civil  foes  which 
are  bred  by  the  peculiar  customs  of  civilization,  it  resembles  a 
company  of  Indians,  armed  with  bows  and  arrows,  against  the 
complicated  and  deadly  machinery  of  fire-arms.  To  place  this 
subject  in  a  proper  light,  we  shall  deliver  a  history  of  the  opera- 
tions of  nature  in  a  few  of  the  diseases  of  civilized  nations. 

I.  There  are  cases  in  which  nature  is  still  successful  in  curing 
diseases. 


274       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

In  fevers  she  still  deprives  us  of  our  appetite  for  animal  food, 
and  imparts  to  us  a  desire  for  cool  air  and  cold  water. 

In  hemorrhages  she  produces  a  faintness,  which  occasions  a 
coagulum  in  the  open  vessels;  so  that  the  further  passage  of  blood 
through  them  is  obstructed. 

In  wounds  of  the  flesh  and  bones  she  discharges  foreign 
matter  by  exciting  an  inflammation,  and  supplies  the  waste  of 
both  with  new  flesh  and  bone. 

II.  There  are  cases  where  the  efforts  of  nature  are  too  feeble 
to  do  service,  as  in  putrid  and  nervous  fevers. 

III.  There  are  cases  where  the  efforts  of  nature  are  over 
proportioned  to  the  strength  of  the  disease,  as  in  the  cholera 
morbus  and  dysentery. 

IV.  There  are  cases  where  nature  is  idle,  a§  in  the  atonic 
stages  of  the  gout,  the  cancer,  the  epilepsy,  the  mania,  the 
venereal  disease,  the  apoplexy,  and  the  tetanus.* 

V.  There  are  cases  in  which  nature  does  mischief.  She  wastes 
herself  with  an  unnecessary  fever,  in  a  dropsy  and  consumption. 
She  throws  a  plethora  upon  the  brain  and  lungs  in  the  apoplexy 
and  peripneumonia  notha.  She  ends  a  pleurisy  and  peripneumony 
in  a  vomica,  or  empyema.  She  creates  an  unnatural  appetite  for 
food  in  the  hypochondriac  disorder.  And  lastly,  she  drives  the 
melancholy  patient  to  solitude,  where,  by  brooding  over  the 
subject  of  his  insanity,  he  increases  his  disease. 

We  are  accustomed  to  hear  of  the  salutary  kindness  of  nature 
in  alarming  us  with  pain,  to  prompt  us  to  seek  for  a  remedy.  But, 

VI.  There  are  cases  in  which  she  refuses  to  send  this  har- 
binger of  the  evils  which  threaten  her,  as  in  the  aneurism,  scirrhus, 
and  stone  in  the  bladder. 

VII.  There  are  cases  where  the  pain  is  not  proportioned  to 
the  danger,  as  in  the  tetanus,  consumption,  and  dropsy  of  the 
head.  And, 

VIII.  There  are  cases  where  the  pain  is  over-proportioned 
to  the  danger,  as  in  the  paronychia  and  tooth-ache. 

*  Hoffmann  de  hypothesium  medicarum  damno,  sect.  xv. 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          275 

This  is  a  short  account  of  the  operations  of  nature,  in  the 
diseases  of  civilized  nations.  A  lunatic  might  as  well  plead  against 
the  sequestration  of  his  estate,  because  he  once  enjoyed  the  full 
exercise  of  his  reason,  or  because  he  still  had  lucid  intervals, 
as  nature  be  exempted  from  the  charges  we  have  brought  against 
her. 

But  this  subject  will  receive  strength  from  considering  the 
REMEDIES  of  civilized  nations.  All  the  products  of  the  vegetable, 
fossil,  and  animal  kingdoms,  tortured  by  heat  and  mixture  into 
an  almost  infinite  variety  of  forms;  bleeding,  cupping,  artificial 
drains  by  setons,  issues,  and  blisters;  exercise,  active  and  passive; 
voyages  and  journies;  baths,  warm  and  cold;  waters  saline,  aerial 
and  mineral;  food  by  weight  and  measure;  the  royal  touch;  en- 
chantment; miracles;  in  a  word,  the  combined  discoveries  of 
natural  history  and  philosophy,  united  into  a  system  of  materia 
medica,  all  show,  that  although  physicians  are  in  speculation 
the  servants,  yet  in  practice  they  are  the  masters  of  nature.  The 
whole  of  their  remedies  seem  contrived  on  purpose  to  arouse, 
assist,  restrain,  and  control  her  operations. 

There  are  some  truths  like  certain  liquors,  which  require 
strong  heads  to  bear  them.  I  feel  myself  protected  from  the 
prejudices  of  vulgar  minds,  when  I  reflect  that  I  am  delivering 
these  sentiments  in  a  society  of  philosophers. 

Let  us  now  take  a  COMPARATIVE  VIEW  of  the  diseases  and 
remedies  of  the  Indians  with  those  of  civilized  nations.  We  shall 
begin  with  their  diseases. 

In  our  account  of  the  diseases  of  the  Indians  we  beheld  death 
executing  his  commission,  it  is  true;  but  then  his  dart  was  hid  in 
a  mantle,  under  which  he  concealed  his  shape.  But  among  civi- 
lized nations  we  behold  him  multiplying  his  weapons  in  pro- 
portion to  the  number  of  organs  and  functions  in  the  body;  and 
pointing  each  of  them  in  such  a  manner,  as  to  render  his  messen- 
gers more  terrible  than  himself. 

We  said  formerly  that  fevers  constituted  the  chief  diseases 
of  the  Indians.  According  to  Doctor  Sydenham's  computation, 
above  66,000  out  of  100,000  died  of  fevers  in  London  about 


276       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

100  years  ago;  but  fevers  now  constitute  but  a  little  more  than 
one-tenth  part  of  the  diseases  of  that  city.  Out  of  21,780  persons 
who  died  in  London  between  December  1770  and  December 
1771,  only  2273  died  of  simple  fevers.  I  have  more  than  once 
heard  Doctor  Huck  complain,  that  he  could  find  no  marks  of 
epidemic  fevers  in  London  as  described  by  Dr  Sydenham.  Lon- 
don has  undergone  a  revolution  in  its  manners  and  customs  since 
Doctor  Sydenham's  time.  New  diseases,  the  offspring  of  luxury, 
have  supplanted  fevers;  and  the  few  that  are  left,  are  so  com- 
plicated with  other  diseases  that  their  connection  can  no  longer 
be  discovered  with  an  epidemic  constitution  of  the  year.  The 
pleurisy  and  peripneumony  those  inflammatory  fevers  of  strong 
constitutions,  are  now  lost  in  catarrhs,  or  colds;  which  instead 
of  challenging  the  powers  of  nature  or  art  to  a  fair  combat, 
insensibly  undermine  the  constitution,  and  bring  on  an  incurable 
consumption.  Out  of  22,434  who  died  in  London  between 
December  1769,  and  the  same  month  in  1770,  4594  perished 
with  that  British  disorder.  Our  countryman,  Doctor  Maclurg, 
has  ventured  to  foretel  that  the  gout  will  be  lost  in  a  few  years, 
in  a  train  of  hypocondriac,  hysteric  and  bilious  disorders.  In  like 
manner,  may  we  not  look  for  a  season  when  fevers,  the  natural 
diseases  of  the  human  body,  will  be  lost  in  an  inundation  of 
artificial  diseases,  brought  ori  by  the  modish  practices  of  civi- 
lization? 

It  may  not  be  improper  to  compare  the  PROGNOSIS  of  the 
Indians,  in  diseases,  with  that  of  civilized  nations,  before  we  take 
a  comparative  view  of  their  remedies. 

The  Indians  are  said  to  be  successful  in  predicting  the  events 
of  diseases.  While  diseases  are  simple,  the  marks  which  distin- 
guish them,  or  characterize  their  several  stages,  are  generally 
uniform  and  obvious  to  the  most  indifferent  observer.  These 
marks  afford  so  much  certainty,  that  the  Indians  sometimes  kill 
their  physicians  for  a  false  prognosis,  charging  the  death  of  the 
patient  to  their  carelessness,  or  ignorance.  They  estimate  the 
danger  of  their  patients  by  the  degrees  of  appetite;  while  an 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          277 

Indian  is  able  to  eat,  he  is  looked  upon  as  free  from  danger. 
But  when  we  consider  the  number  and  variety  in  the  signs  of 
diseases,  among  civilized  nations,  together  with  the  shortness  of 
life,  the  fallacy  of  memory,  and  the  uncertainty  of  observation, 
where  shall  we  find  a  physician  willing  to  risk  his  reputation, 
much  less  his  life,  upon  the  prediction  of  the  event  of  our  acute 
diseases?  We  can  derive  no  advantage  from  the  simple  sign,  by 
which  the  Indians  estimate  the  danger  of  their  patients;  for  we 
daily  see  a  want  of  appetite  for  food  in  diseases  which  are  at- 
tended with  no  danger;  and  we  sometimes  observe  an  unusual 
degree  of  this  appetite  to  precede  the  agonies  of  death.  I  honour 
the  name  of  HIPPOCRATES:  But  forgive  me  ye  votaries  of  anti- 
quity, if  I  attempt  to  pluck  a  few  grey  hairs  from  his  venerable 
head.  I  was  once  an  idolater  at  his  altar,  nor  did  I  turn  apostate 
from  his  worship,  till  I  was  taught,  that  not  a  tenth  part  of  his 
prognostics  corresponded  with  modern  experience,  or  observa- 
tion. The  pulse,*  urine,  and  sweats,  from  which  the  principle 
signs  of  life  and  death  have  been  taken,  are  so  variable  in  most 
of  the  acute  diseases  of  civilized  nations,  that  the  wisest  physi- 
cians have  in  some  measure  excluded  the  prognosis  from  being 
a  part  of  their  profession. 

I  am  here  insensibly  led  to  make  an  apology  for  the  instability 
of  the  theories  and  practice  of  physic.  The  theory  of  physic  is 
founded  upon  the  laws  of  the  animal  economy.  These  (unlike 
the  laws  of  the  mind,  or  the  common  laws  of  matter)  do  not 
appear  at  once,  but  are  gradually  brought  to  light  by  the  phe- 
nomena of  diseases.  The  success  of  nature  in  curing  the  simple 
diseases  of  Saxony,  laid  the  foundation  for  the  ANIMA  MEDICA  of 

*  Doctor  Cullen  used  to  inform  his  pupils,  that  after  forty  years 
experience,  he  could  find  no  relation  between  his  own  observations  on 
the  pulse,  and  those  made  by  Doctor  Solano.  The  climate  and  customs 
of  the  people  in  Spain  being  so  different  from  the  climate  and  customs 
of  the  present  inhabitants  of  Britain,  may  account  for  the  diversity  of 
their  observations.  Doctor  Heberden's  remarks  upon  the  pulse,  in  the 
second  volume  of  the  Medical  Transactions,  are  calculated  to  show  how 
little  the  issue  of  diseases  can  be  learned  from  it. 


278       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

Doctor  STAHL.  The  endemics  of  Holland  *  led  Doctor  BOER- 
HAAVE  to  seek  for  the  causes  of  all  diseases  in  the  FLUIDS.  And 
the  universal  prevalence  of  the  disease  of  the  NERVES,  in  Great- 
Britain  led  Doctor  CULLEN  to  discover  their  peculiar  laws,  and 
to  found  a  system  upon  them;  a  system,  which  will  probably  last 
till  some  new  diseases  are  let  loose  upon  the  human  species, 
which  shall  unfold  other  laws  of  the  animal  economy. 

It  is  in  consequence  of  this  fluctuation  in  the  principles  and 
practice  of  physic,  being  so  necessarily  connected  with  the 
changes  in  the  customs  of  civilized  nations,  that  old  and  young 
physicians  so  often  disagree  in  their  opinions  and  practices.  And 
it  is  by  attending  to  the  constant  changes  in  these  customs  of 
civilized  nations,  that  those  physicians  have  generally  become 
the  most  eminent,  who  have  soonest  emancipated  themselves 
from  the  tyranny  of  the  schools  of  physic;  ancl  having  occa- 
sionally accommodated  their  principles  and  practice  to  the 
changes  in  diseases. t  This  variety  in  diseases,  which  is  produced 
by  the  changes  in  the  customs  of  civilized  nations,  will  enable 
us  to  account  for  many  of  the  contradictions  which  are  to  be 
found  in  authors  of  equal  candor  and  abilities,  who  have  written 
upon  the  materia  medica. 


*  "The  scurvy  is  very  frequent  in  Holland;  and  draws  its  origin 
partly  from  their  strong  food,  sea-fish,  and  smoked  flesh,  and  partly  from 
their  dense  and  moist  air,  together  with  their  bad  water."  Hoffman  on 
Endemical  Distempers. 

"We  are  now  in  North-Holland;  and  I  have  never  seen,  among  so 
few  people,  so  many  infected  with  the  leprosy  as  here.  They  say  the 
reason  is,  because  they  eat  so  much  fish."  Howell's  Familiar  Letters. 

t  We  may  learn  from  these  observations,  the  great  impropriety  of 
those  Egyptian  laws  which  oblige  physicians  to  adopt,  in  all  cases,  the 
prescriptions  which  had  been  collected,  and  approved  of,  by  the  physi- 
cians of  former  ages.  Every  change  in  the  customs  of  civilized  nations, 
produces  a  change  in  their  diseases,  which  calls  for  a  change  in  their 
remedies.  What  havoc  would  plentiful  bleeding,  purging,  and  small  beer, 
formerly  used  with  so  much  success  by  Dr  Sydenham  in  the  cure  of 
fevers,  now  make  upon  the  enfeebled  citizens  of  London!  The  fevers  of 
the  same,  and  of  more  southern  latitudes,  still  admit  of  such  antiphlogistic 
remedies.  In  the  room  of  these,  bark,  wine,  and  other  cordial  medicines, 
are  prescribed  in  London  in  almost  every  kind  of  fever. 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          279 

In  forming  a  comparative  view  of  the  REMEDIES  of  the  In- 
dians, with  those  of  civilized  nations,  we  shall  remark,  that  the 
want  of  success  in  a  medicine  is  occasioned  by  one  of  the  fol- 
lowing causes. 

First,  our  ignorance  of  the  disorder.  Secondly,  an  ignorance 
of  a  suitable  remedy.  Thirdly,  a  want  of  efficacy  in  the  remedy. 

Considering  the  violence  of  the  diseases  of  the  Indians,  it  is 
probable  their  want  of  success  is  always  occasioned  by  a  want 
of  efficacy  in  their  medicines.  But  the  case  is  very  different 
among  the  civilized  nations.  Dissections  daily  convince  us  of 
our  ignorance  of  the  seats  of  diseases,  and  cause  us  to  blush  at 
our  prescriptions.  What  certain  or  equal  remedies  have  we  found 
for  the  gout,  the  epilepsy,  apoplexy,  palsy,  dropsy  of  the  brain, 
cancer  and  consumption?  How  often  are  we  disappointed  in  our 
expectation  from  the  most  certain  and  powerful  of  our  remedies, 
by  the  negligence  or  obstinacy  of  our  patients!  What  mischief 
have  we  done  under  the  belief  of  false  facts  (if  I  may  be  allowed 
the  expression)  and  false  theories!  We  have  assisted  in  multiply- 
ing diseases. — We  have  done  more — we  have  increased  their 
mortality. 

I  shall  not  pause  to  beg  pardon  of  the  faculty,  for  acknowl- 
edging in  this  public  manner  the  weaknesses  of  our  profession. 
I  am  pursuing  truth,  and  while  I  can  keep  my  eye  fixed  upon 
my  guide,  I  am  indifferent  whither  I  am  led,  provided  she  is 
my  leader. 

But  further,  the  Indian  submits  to  his  disease,  without  one 
fearful  emotion  from  his  doubtfulness  of  its  event;  and  at  last 
meets  his  fate  without  an  anxious  wish  for  futurity;  except  it  is 
of  being  admitted  to  an  "equal  sky,"  where 

"His  faithful  dog  shall  bear  him  company." 

But  among  civilized  nations,  the  influence  of  a  false  religion  in 
good,  and  of  a  true  religion  in  bad  men,  has  converted  even  the 
fear  of  death  into  a  disease.  It  is  this  original  distemper  of  the 
imagination  which  renders  the  plague  most  fatal,  upon  his  first 
appearance  in  a  country. 


280       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

Under  all  these  disadvantages  in  the  state  of  medicine,  among 
civilized  nations,  do  more  in  proportion  die  of  the  diseases  pecul- 
iar to  them,  than  of  fevers,  casualties  and  old  age,  among  the 
Indians?  If  we  take  our  account  from  the  city  of  London,  we 
shall  find  this  to  be  the  case.  Near  a  twentieth  part  of  its  in- 
habitants perisli  one  year  with  another.  Nor  does  the  natural 
increase  of  inhabitants  supply  this  yearly  waste.  If  we  judge 
from  the  bills  of  mortality,  the  city  of  London  contains  fewer 
inhabitants,  by  several  thousands,  than  it  did  forty  years  ago. 
It  appears  from  this  fact,  and  many  others  of  a  like  nature,  which 
might  be  adduced,  that  although  the  difficulty  of  supporting 
children,  together  with  some  peculiar  customs  of  the  Indians, 
which  we  mentioned,  limit  their  number,  yet  they  multiply  faster, 
and  die  in  a  smaller  proportion  than  civilized  „  nations,  under 
the  circumstances  we  have  described.  The  Indians,  we  are  told, 
were  numerous  in  this  country  before  the  Europeans  settled 
among  them.  Travellers  agree  likewise  in  describing  numbers 
of  both  sexes  who  exhibited  all  the  marks  of  extreme  old  age. 
It  is  remarkable  that  age  seldom  impairs  the  faculties  of  their 
minds. 

The  mortality  peculiar  to  those  Indian  tribes  who  have  min- 
gled with  the  white  people,  must  be  ascribed  to  the  extensive 
mischief  of  spirituous  liquors.  When  these  have  not  acted,  they 
have  suffered  from  having  accommodated  themselves  too  sud- 
denly to  the  European  diet,  dress,  and  manners.  It  does  not  be- 
come us  to  pry  too  much  into  futurity;  but  if  we  may  judge  from 
the  fate  of  the  original  natives  of  Hispaniola,  Jamaica,  and  the 
provinces  on  the  continent,  we  may  venture  to  'foretell,  that, 
in  proportion  as  the  white  people  multiply,  the  Indians  will 
diminish;  so  that  in  a  few  centuries  they  will  probably  be  entirely 
extirpated.* 

*  Even  the  influence  of  CHRISTIAN  principles  has  not  been  able  to  put 
a  stop  to  the  mortality  introduced  among  the  Indians,  by  their  inter- 
course with  the  Europeans.  Dr  Cotton  Mather,  in  a  letter  to  Sir  William 
Ashurst,  printed,  in  Boston  in  the  year  1705,  says  "That  above  five  years 
before,  there  were  about  thirty  Indian  congregations  in  the  southern 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          281 

It  may  be  said,  that  health  among  the  Indians,  like  insensi- 
bility to  cold  and  hunger,  is  proportioned  to  their  need  of  it; 
and  that  the  less  degrees,  or  entire  want  of  health,  are  no  inter- 
ruption to  the  ordinary  business  of  civilized  life. 

To  obviate  this  supposition,  we  shall  first  attend  to  the  effects 
of  a  single  distemper  in  those  people  who  are  the  principle  wheels 
in  the  machine  of  civil  society.  Justice  has  stopt  its  current,  vic- 
tories, have  been  lost,  wars  have  been  prolonged,  and  embassies 
delayed,  by  the  principle  actors  in  these  departments  of  govern- 
ment being  suddenly  laid  up  by  a  fit  of  the  gout.  How  many 
offences  are  daily  committed  against  the  rules  of  good  breeding, 
by  the  tedious  histories  of  our  disorders,  which  compose  so  great 
a  part  of  modem  conversation!  What  sums  of  money  have  been 
lavished  in  foreign  countries  in  pursuit  of  health!  *  Families  have 
been  ruined  by  the  unavoidable  expenses  of  medicines  and  water- 
ing-places. In  a  word,  the  swarms  of  beggars  which  infest  so 
many  of  the  European  countries,  urge  their  petitions  for  charity 
chiefly  by  arguments  derived  from  real  or  counterfeit  diseases, 
which  render  them  incapable  of  supporting  themselves.f 

But  may  not  civilization,  while  it  abates  the  violence  of  natu- 
ral diseases,  increase  the  lenity  of  those  that  are  artificial,  in  the 
same  manner  that  it  lessens  the  strength  of  natural  vices  by 
multiplying  them?  To  answer  this  question,  it  will  only  be  neccs- 


parts  of  the  province  of  Massachusetts-Bay."  The  same  author,  in  his 
history  of  New-England,  says,  "That  in  the  islands  of  Nantucket  and 
Martha's  Vineyard,  there  were  3000  adult  Indians,  1600  of  whom  pro- 
fessed the  Christian  religion."  At  present  there  is  but  one  Indian  con- 
gregation in  the  whole  Massachusetts  province. 

It  may  serve  to  extend  our  knowledge  of  diseases,  to  remark,  that 
epidemics  were  often  observed  to  prevail  among  the  Indians  in  Nan- 
tucket,  without  affecting  the  white  people. 

*  It  is  said,  there  are  seldom  less  than  20,000  British  subjects  in 
France  and  Italy;  one  half  of  whom  reside  or  travel  in  those  countries 
upon  the  account  of  their  health. 

t  Templeman  computes,  that  Scotland  contains  1,500,000  inhabitants; 
100,000  of  whom,  according  to  Mr  Fletcher,  are  supported  at  the  public 
expence.  The  proportion  of  poor  people  is  much  greater  in  England, 
Ireland,  France,  and  Italy. 


282       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

sary  to  ask  another:  Who  should  exchange  the  heat,  thirst  and 
uneasiness  of  a  fever,  for  one  fit  of  the  cholic  or  stone? 

The  history  of  the  number,  combination  and  fashions  of  the 
remedies  we  have  given,  may  serve  to  humble  the  pride  of  phi- 
losophy; and  to  convince  us  that  with  all  the  advantages  of  the 
whole  circle  of  sciences,  we  are  still  ignorant  of  antidotes  to 
many  of  the  diseases  of  civilized  nations.  We  sometimes  soothe 
our  ignorance  by  reproaching  our  idleness  in  not  investigating 
the  remedies  peculiar  to  this  country.  We  are  taught  to  believe 
that  every  herb  that  grows  in  our  woods  is  possessed  of  some 
medicinal  virtue,  and  that  heaven  would  be  wanting  in  benignity 
if  our  country  did  not  produce  remedies  for  all  the  different 
diseases  of  its  inhabitants.  It  would  be  arrogating  too  much  to 
suppose  that  man  was  the  only  creature  in  our  world  for  whom 
vegetables  grow.  The  beasts,  birds  and  insects,  derive  their 
sustenance  either  directly  or  indirectly  from  them;  while  many 
of  them  were  probably  intended  from  their  variety  in  figure, 
foliage  and  colour,  only  to  serve  as  ornaments  for  our  globe. 
It  would  seem  strange  that  the  Author  of  nature  should  furnish 
every  spot  of  ground  with  medicines  adapted  to  the  diseases  of 
its  inhabitants,  and  at  the  same  rime  deny  it  the  more  necessary 
articles  of  food  and  cloathing.  I  know  not  whether  heaven  has 
provided  every  country  with  antidotes  even  to  the  natural  dis- 
eases of  its  inhabitants.  The  intermitting  fever  is  common  in 
almost  every  corner  of  the  globe;  but  a  sovereign  remedy  for 
it  has  been  discovered  only  in  South-America.  The  combination 
of  bitter  and  astringent  substances,  which  serve  as  a  succeda- 
neum  to  the  Peruvian  bark,  is  as  much  a  preparation  of  art,  as 
calomel  or  tartar  emetic.  Societies  stand  in  need  of  each  other 
as  much  as  individuals:  and  the  goodness  of  the  Deity  remains 
unimpeached  when  we  suppose,  that  he  intended  medicines  to 
serve  (with  other  articles)  to  promote  that  knowledge,  humanity, 
and  politeness  among  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth,  which  have 
been  so  justly  attributed  to  commerce. 

We  have  no  discoveries  in  the  materia  medica  to  hope  for 
from  the  Indians  in  North-America.  It  would  be  a  reproach  to 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          283 

our  schools  of  physic,  if  modern  physicians  were  not  more  suc- 
cessful than  the  Indians,  even  in  the  treatment  of  their  own 
diseases. 

Do  the  blessings  of  civilization  compensate  for  the  sacrifice 
we  make  of  natural  health,  as  well  as  of  natural  liberty?  This 
question  must  be  answered  under  some  limitations.  When  natural 
liberty  is  given  up  for  laws  which  enslave  instead  of  protecting 
us,  we  are  immense  losers  by  the  exchange.  Thus,  if  we  arm  the 
whole  elements  against  our  health,  and  render  every  pore  in  the 
body  an  avenue  for  a  disease,  we  pay  too  high  a  price  for  the 
blessings  of  civilization. 

In  governments  which  have  departed  entirely  from  their  sim- 
plicity, partial  evils  are  to  be  cured  by  nothing  but  an  entire 
renovation  of  their  constitution.  Let  the  world  bear  with  the 
professions  of  law,  physic,  and  divinity;  and  let  the  lawyer, 
physician  and  divine  yet  learn  to  bear  with  each  other.  They 
are  all  necessary,  in  the  present  state  of  society.  In  like  manner, 
let  the  women  of  fashion  forget  the  delicacy  of  her  sex,  and 
submit  to  be  delivered  by,  a  man-midwife.*  Let  her  snatch  her 
offspring  from  her  breast,  and  send  it  to  repair  the  weakness  of 
its  stamina,  with  the  milk  of  a  ruddy  cottager. f  Let  art  supply 

*  In  the  enervated  age  of  Athens,  a  law  was  passed  which  confined 
the  practice  of  midwifery  only  to  the  men.  It  was,  however,  repealed, 
upon  a  woman's  dying  in  childbirth,  rather  than  be  delivered  by  a  man- 
midwife.  It  appears  from  the  bills  of  mortality  in  London  and  Dublin, 
that  about  one  in  seventy  of  those  women  die  in  childbirth  who  are  in  the 
hands  of  midwives;  but  from  the  accounts  of  the  lying-in  hospitals  in 
those  cities  which  are  under  the  care  of  man-midwives,  only  one  in  an 
hundred  and  forty  perishes  in  childbirth. 

t  There  has  been  much  common-place  declamation  against  the  cus- 
tom among  the  great,  of  not  suckling  their  children.  Nurses  were  common 
in  Rome,  in  the  declension  of  the  empire:  hence  we  find  Cornelia  com- 
mended as  a  rare  example  of  maternal  virtue,  as  much  for  suckling  her 
sons,  as  for  teaching  them  eloquence.  That  nurses  were  common  in  Egypt, 
is  probable  from  the  contract  which  Pharaoh's  daughter  made  with  the 
unknown  mother  of  Moses,  to  allow  her  wages  for  suckling  her  own 
child.  The  same  degrees  of  civilization  require  the  same  customs.  A 
woman  whose  times  for  eating,  sleeping  &c.  are  constantly  interrupted 
by  the  calls  of  enervating  pleasures,  must  always  afford  milk  of  an  un- 


284       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

the  place  of  nature  in  the  preparation  and  digestion  of  all  our 
aliment.  Let  our  fine  ladies  keep  up  their  colour  with  carmine, 
and  their  spirits  with  ratifia;  and  let  our  fine  gentlemen  defend 
themselves  from  the  excesses  of  heat  and  cold,  with  lavender  and 
hartshorn.  These  customs  have  become  necessary  in  the  corrupt 
stages  of  society.  We  must  imitate,  in  these  cases,  the  practice 
of  those  physicians  who  consult  the  appetite  only,  in  diseases 
which  do  not  admit  of  a  remedy. 

The  state  of  a  country  in  point  of  population,  temperance, 
and  industry,  is  so  connected  with  its  diseases,  that  a  tolerable 
idea  may  be  formed  of  it,  by  looking  over  its  bills  of  mortality. 
HOSPITALS,  with  all  their  boasted  advantages,  exhibit  at  the  same 
time  monuments  of  the  charity  and  depravity  of  a  people.*  The 
opulence  of  physicians,  and  the  divisions  of  their  offices,  into 
those  of  surgery,  pharmacy  and  midwifery,  are  likewise  proofs 
of  the  declining  state  of  a  country.  In  the  infancy  of  the  Roman 
empire,  the  priest  performed  the  office  of  a  physician;  so  simple 

wholesome  nature.  It  may  truly  be  said  of  a  child  doomed  to  live  on  this 
aliment,  that  as  soon  as  it  receives 

"breath, 

It  sucks  in  "the  lurking  principles  of  death." 

*  "Aurengezebe,  emperor  of  Persia,  being  asked  Why  he  did  not 
build  hospitals?  said,  /  will  make  my  empire  so  rich,  that  there  shall  be 
no  need  of  hospitals.  He  ought  to  have  said,  I  will  begin  by  rendering 
my  subjects  rich,  and  then  I  will  build  hospitals. 

uAt  Rome,  the  hospitals  place  every  one  at  his  ease,  except  those 
who  labor,  those  who  are  industrious,  those  who  have  lands,  and  those 
who  are  engaged  in  trade. 

"I  have  observed,  that  wealthy  nations  have  need  of  hospitals,  because 
fortune  subjects  them  to  a  thousand  accidents;  but  it  is  plain,  that  transient 
assistances  are  better  than  perpetual  foundations.  The  evil  is  momentary; 
it  is  necessary,  therefore,  that  the  succor  should  be  of  the  same  nature, 
and  that  it  be  applied  to  particular  accidents."  Spirit  of  laws,  b.  xkiii 
ch.  29. 

It  was  reserved  for  the  present  generation  to  substitute  in  the  room 
of  public  hospitals  private  DISPENSARIES  for  the  relief  of  the  sick.  Philoso- 
phy and  Christianity  alike  concur  in  deriving  praise  and  benefit  from 
these  excellent  institutions.  They  exhibit  something  like  an  application  of 
the  mechanical  powers  to  the  purposes  of  benevolence;  for  in  what  other 
charitable  institutions  do  we  perceive  so  great  a  quantity  of  distress  re- 
lieved by  so  small  an  expence? 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          285 

were  the  principles  and  practice  of  physic.  It  was  only  in  the 
declension  of  the  empire  that  physicians  vied  with  the  emperors 
of  Rome  in  magnificence  and  splendor.* 

I  am  sorry  to  add  in  this  place,  that  the  number  of  patients 
in  the  HOSPITAL,  and  incurables  in  the  ALMSHOUSR  of  this  city, 
show  that  we  are  treading  in  the  enervated  steps  of  our  fellow 
subjects  in  Britain.  Our  bills  of  mortality  likewise  show  the 
encroachments  of  British  diseases  upon  us.  The  NERVOUS  FEVER 
has  become  so  familiar  to  us,  that  we  look  upon  it  as  a  natural 
disease.  Dr  Sydenham,  so  faithful  in  his  history  of  fevers,  takes 
no  notice  of  it.  Dr  Cadwallader  informed  me,  that  it  made  its 
first  appearance  in  this  city  about  five  and  twenty  years  ago.  It 
will  be  impossible  to  name  the  CONSUMPTION  without  recalling 
to  our  minds  the  memory  of  some  friend  or  relation,  who  has 
perished  within  these  few  years  by  that  disorder.  Its  rapid  prog- 
ress among  us  has  been  unjustly  attributed  to  the  growing  re- 
semblance of  our  climate  to  that  of  Great-Britain.  The  HYSTERIC 
and  HYPOCHONDRIAC  DISORDERS,  once  peculiar  to  the  chambers 
of  the  great,  are  now  to  be  found  in  our  kitchens  and  work- 
shops. All  these  diseases  have  been  produced  by  our  having  de- 
serted the  simple  diet,  and  manners,  of  our  ancestors. 

The  blessings  of  literature,  commerce,  and  religion  were  not 
originally  purchased  at  the  expense  of  health.  The  complete 

*  The  first  regular  practitioners  of  physic  in  Rome,  were  women  and 
slaves.  The  profession  was  confined  to  them  above  six  hundred  years. 
The  Romans  during  this  period  lived  chiefly  upon  vegetables,  particularly 
upon  PULSE;  and  hence  they  were  called,  by  their  neighbours  PULTIFAGI. 
They  were  likewise  early  inured  to  the  healthy  employments  of  war  and 
husbandry.  Their  diseases,  of  course,  were  too  few  and  simple  to  render 
the  cure  of  them  an  object  of  a  liberal  profession.  When  their  diseases 
became  more  numerous  and  complicated,  their  investigation  and  cure 
required  the  aids  of  philosophy.  The  profession  from  this  time  became 
liberal;  and  maintained  a  rank  with  the  other  professions  which  are 
founded  upon  the  imperfection  and  depravity  of  human  institutions. 
Physicians  are  as  necessary  in  the  advanced  stages  of  society  as  surgeons, 
although  their  office  is  less  ancient  and  certain.  There  are  many  artificial 
diseases,  in  which  they  give  certain  relief;  and  even  where  their  art  fails, 
their  prescriptions  are  still  necessary,  in  order  to  smooth  the  avenues  of 
death. 


286       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

enjoyment  of  health  is  as  compatible  with  civilization,  as  the 
enjoyment  of  civil  liberty.  We  read  of  countries,  rich  in  every 
thing  that  can  form  national  happiness  and  national  grandeur, 
the  diseases  of  which  are  nearly  as  few  and  simple  as  those  of 
the  Indians.  We  hear  of  no  diseases  among  the  Jews,  while  they 
were  under  their  democratical  form  of  government,  except  such 
as  were  inflicted  by  a  supernatural  power.*  We  should  be 
tempted  to  doubt  the  accounts  given  of  the  populousness  of  that 
people,  did  we  not  see  the  practice  of  their  simple  customs  pro- 
ducing nearly  the  same  populousness  in  Egypt,  Rome,  and  other 
countries  of  antiquity.  The  Empire  of  China,  it  is  said  contains 
more  inhabitants  than  the  whole  of  Europe.  The  political  insti- 
tutions of  that  country  have  exempted  its  inhabitants  from  a 
large  share  of  the  diseases  of  other  civilized  nation^.  The  inhabi- 
tants of  Switzerland,  Denmark,  Norway  f  and  Sweden,  enjoy 
the  chief  advantages  of  civilization  without  having  surrendered 


*  The  principal  employments  of  the  Jews,  like  those  of  the  Romans 
in  their  simple  ages,  consisted  in  war  and  husbandry.  Their  diet  was  plain, 
consisting  chiefly  of  vegetables.  Their  only  remedies  were  plasters  and 
ointments;  which  were  calculated  for  those  diseases  which  are  produced 
by  accidents.  In  proportion  as  they  receded  from  their  simple  customs, 
we  find  artificial  diseases  prevail  among  them.  The  leprosy  made  its 
appearance  in  their  journey  through  the  wilderness.  King  Asa's  pains  in 
his  feet,  were  probably  brought  on  by  a  fit  of  the  gout.  Saul  and  Nebuch- 
adnezzar were  afflicted  with  a  melancholy.  In  the  time  of  our  Saviour, 
we  find  an  account  of  all  those  diseases  in  Judea,  which  mark  the  de- 
clension of  a  people;  such  as,  the  palsy,  epilepsy,  mania,  blindness,  hemor- 
rhagia  uterina,  &c.  It  is  unnecessary  to  suppose,  that  they  were  let  loose 
at  this  juncture,  on  purpose  to  give  our  Saviour  an  opportunity  of  making 
them  the  chief  subject  of  his  miracles.  They  had  been  produced  from 
natural  causes,  by  the  gradual  depravity  of  their  manners.  It  is  remark- 
able, that  our  Saviour  chose  those  artificial  diseases  for  the  subject  of  his 
miracles,  in  preference  to  natural  diseases.  The  efforts  of  nature,  and  the 
operation  of  medicines,  are  too  slow  and  uncertain  in  these  cases  to 
detract  in  the  least  from  the  validity  of  the  miracle.  He  cured  Peter's 
mother-in-law,  it  is  true,  of  a  fever;  but  to  shew  that  the  cure  was  miracu- 
lous, the  sacred  historian  adds,  (contrary  to  what  is  common  after  a 
fever)  "that  she  arose  immediately  and  ministered  unto  them." 

t  In  the  city  of  Bergen,  which  consists  of  30,000  inhabitants,  there  is 
but  one  physician;  who  is  supported  at  the  expence  of  the  public.  Pon- 
toppidan's  Nat.  Hist,  of  Norway. 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          287 

for  them  the  blessings  of  natural  health.  But  it  is  unnecessary  to 
appeal  to  ancient  or  remote  nations  to  prove,  that  health  is  not 
incompatible  with  civilization.  The  inhabitants  of  many  parts 
of  New  England,  particularly  the  province  of  Connecticut,  are 
strangers  to  artificial  diseases.  Some  of  you  may  remember  the 
time,  and  our  fathers  have  told  those  of  us  who  do  not,  when 
the  diseases  of  PENNSYLVANIA  were  as  few  and  as  simple  as  those 
of  the  Indians.  The  food  of  the  inhabitants  was  then  simple; 
their  only  drink  was  water;  their  appetites  were  restrained  by 
labour;  religion  excluded  the  influence  of  sickning  passions; 
private  hospitality  supplied  the  want  of  a  public  hospital;  nature 
was  their  only  nurse,  temperance  their  principal  physician.  But 
I  must  not  dwell  upon  this  retrospect  of  primaeval  manners;  and 
I  am  too  strongly  impressed  with  a  hope  of  a  revival  of  such 
happy  days,  to  pronounce  them  the  golden  age  of  our  province. 
Our  esteem  for  the  customs  of  our  savage  neighbours  will  be 
lessened,  when  we  add,  that  civilization  does  not  preclude  the 
honours  of  old  age.  The  proportion  of  old  people  is  much 
greater  among  civilized,  than  among  savage  nations.  It  would  be 
easy  to  decide  this  assertion  in  our  favour,  by  appealing  to  facts 
in  the  natural  histories  of  Britain,  Norway,  Sweden,  North- 
America,*  and  several  of  the  West-India  Islands. 

*  It  has  been  urged  against  the  state  of  longevity  in  America,  that  the 
Europeans,  who  settle  among  us,  generally  arrive  to  a  greater  age  than 
the  Americans.  This  is  not  occasioned  so  much  by  a  peculiar  firmness  in 
their  stamina,  as  by  an  increase  of  vigour,  which  the  constitution  acquires 
by  a  change  of  climate.  A  Frenchman  (caeteris  paribus)  outlives  an  Eng- 
lishman in  England.  An  Hollander  prolongs  his  life  by  removing  to  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope.  A  Portuguese  gains  fifteen  or  twenty  years  by 
removing  to  Brazil.  And  there  are  good  reasons  to  believe,  that  a  North- 
American  would  derive  the  same  advantages,  in  point  of  health  and 
longevity,  by  removing  to  Europe,  which  an  European  derives  from 
coming  to  this  country. 

From  a  calculation  made  by  an  ingenious  foreigner,  it  appears,  that 
a  greater  proportion  of  old-people  are  to  be  found  in  Connecticut,  than 
in  any  colony  in  North- America.  This  colony  contains  180,000  inhab- 
itants. They  have  no  public  hospitals  or  poor-houses;  nor  is  a  beggar  to 
be  seen  among  them.  There  cannot  be  more  striking  proofs  than  these, 
facts  of  the  simplicity  of  their  manners. 


288       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

The  laws  of  decency  and  nature,  are  not  necessarily  abol- 
ished by  the  customs  of  civilized  nations.  In  many  of  these,  we 
read  of  women  among  whom  nature  alone  still  performs  the 
office  of  a  midwife,f  and  who  feel  the  obligations  of  suckling 
their  children,  to  be  equally  binding  with  the  common  obliga- 
tions of  morality. 

Civilization  does  not  render  us  less  fit  for  the  necessary  hard- 
ships of  war.  We  read  of  armies  of  civilized  nations,  who  have 
endured  degrees  of  cold,  hunger  and  fatigue,  which  have  not 
been  exceeded  by  the  savages  of  any  country.* 

Civilization  does  not  always  multiply  the  avenues  of  death. 
It  appears  from  the  bills  of  mortality,  of  many  countries,  that 
fewer  in^  proportion  die  among  civilized,  than  among  savage 
nations.  Even  the  charms  of  beauty  are  heightened  by  civiliza- 
tion. We  read  of  stateliness,  proportion,  and  fine  teeth  **  and 

t  Parturition,  in  the  simple  ages  of  all  countries,  is  performed  by 
nature.  The  Israelitish  women  were  delivered  even  without  the  help  of 
the  Egyptian  midwives.  We  read  of  but  two  women  who  died  in  child- 
birth in  the  whole  history  of  the  Jews.  Dr  Bancroft  says,  that  child- 
bearing  is  attended  with  so  little  pain  in  Guiana,  that  the  women  seem 
to  be  exempted  from  the  curse  inflicted  upon  Eve.  These  easy  births 
are  not  confined  to  warm  climates.  They  are  equally  safe  and  easy  in 
Norway  and  Iceland,  according  to  Pontoppidan  and  Anderson's  histories 
of  those  countries. 

*  Civilized  nations  have,  in  the  end,  always  conquered  savages  as 
much  by  their  ability  to  bear  hardships,  as  by  their  superior  military  skill. 
Soldiers  are  not  to  be  chosen  indiscriminately.  The  greatest  generals  have 
looked  upon  sound  constitutions  to  be  as  essential  to  soldiers,  as  bravery 
or  military  discipline.  Count  Saxe  refused  soldiers  born  and  bred  in  large 
cities;  and  sought  for  such  only  as  were  bred  in  mountainous  countries. 
The  King  of  Prussia  calls  young  soldiers  only  to  the  dangers  and  honors 
of  the  field  in  his  elegant  poem,  Sur  1'Art  de  la  Guerre,  chant,  i.  Old 
soldiers  generally  lose  the  advantages  of  their  veteranism,  by  their  habits 
of  idleness  and  debauchery.  An  able  general,  and  experienced  officers, 
will  always  supply  the  defects  of  age  in  young  soldiers. 

**  Bad  teeth  are  observed  chiefly  in  middle  latitudes,  which  are  sub- 
ject to  alternate  heats  and  colds.  The  inhabitants  of  Norway  and  Russia 
are  as  remarkable  for  their  fine  teeth  as  the  inhabitants  of  Africa.  We 
observe  fine  teeth  to  be  universal  likewise  among  the  inhabitants  of 
France,  who  live  in  a  variable  climate.  These  have  been  ascribed  to  their 
protecting  their  heads  from  the  action  of  the  night  air  by  means  of 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          289 

complexions  in  both  sexes,  forming  the  principal  outlines  of 
national  characters. 

The  danger  -of  many  diseases,  is  not  proportioned  to  their 
violence,  but  to  their  duration.  America  has  advanced  but  a  few 
paces  in  luxury  and  effeminacy.  There  is  yet  strength  enough 
in  her  vitals  to  give  life  to  those  parts  which  are  decayed.  She 
may  recall  her  steps.  For  this  purpose, 

I.  Let  our  children  be  educated  in  a  manner  more  agreeable 
to  nature. 

II.  Let  the  common  people  (who  constitute  the  wealth  and 
strength  of  our  country)  be  preserved  from  the  effects  of  spiritu- 
ous liquors.  Had  I  a  double  portion  of  all  that  eloquence  which 
has  been  employed  in  describing  the  political  evils  that  lately 
threatened  our  country,  it  would  be  too  little  to  set  forth  the 
numerous  and  complicated  physical  and  moral  evils  which  these 
liquors  have  introduced  among  us.  To  encounter  this  hydra 
requires  an  arm  accustomed  like  that  of  Hercules  to  vanquish 
monsters.  Sir  William  Temple  tells  us,  that  in  Spain  no  man 
can  be  admitted  as  an  evidence  in  a  court,  who  has  once  been 
convicted  of  drunkenness.  I  do  not  call  for  so  severe  a  law  in 
this  country.  Let  us  first  try  the  force  of  severe  manners.  Lycur- 
gus  governed  more  by  these,  than  by  his  laws.  "Boni  mores  non 
bonae  leges,"  according  to  Tacitus,  were  the  bulwarks  of  virtue 
among  the  ancient  Germans. 

III.  I  despair  of  being  able  to  call  the  votaries  of  Bacchus 
from  their  bottle,  and  shall  therefore  leave  them  to  be  roused 
by  the  more  eloquent  twinges  of  the  gout. 

IV.  Let  us  be  cautious  what  kind  of  manufactures  we  admit 
among  us.  The  rickets  made  their  first  appearance  in  the  manu- 
facturing towns  in  England.  Dr  Fothergill  informed  me,  that  he 
had  often  observed,  when  a  pupil,  that  the  greatest  part  of  the 
chronic   patients   in   the   London   Hospital   were   Spittal-field 

woollen  night-caps,  and  to  the  extraordinary  attention  to  the  teeth  of 
their  children.  These  precautions  secure  good  teeth;  and  are  absolutely 
necessary  in  all  variable  climates  where  people  do  not  adopt  all  the  cus- 
toms of  the  savage  life. 


290       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

weavers.  I  would  not  be  understood,  from  these  facts,  to  dis- 
courage those  manufacturers  which  give  employment  to  women: 
these  suffer  few  inconveniences  from  a  sedentary  life:  nor 
do  I  mean  to  offer  the  least  restraint  to  those  manufactories 
among  men,  which  admit  of  free  air,  and  the  exercise  of  all  their 
limbs.  Perhaps  a  pure  air  and  the  abstraction  of  spirituous 
liquors  might  render  sedentary  employments  less  unhealthy  in 
America,  even  among  men,  than  in  the  populous  towns  of 
Great-Britain. 

The  population  of  a  country  is  not  to  be  accomplished  by 
rewards  and  punishments.  And  it  is  happy  for  America,  that  the 
universal  prevalence  of  the  Protestant  religion,  the  checks  lately 
given  to  Negro  slavery,  the  general  unwillingness  among  us  to 
acknowledge  the  usurpations  of  primogeniture,  ^  the  universal 
practice  of  inoculation  for  the  small-pox,  and  the  absence  of  the 
plague,  render  the  interposition  of  government  for  that  purpose 
unnecessary. 

These  advantages  can  only  be  secured  to  our  country  by 
AGRICULTURE.  This  is  the  true  basis  of  national  health,  riches 
and  populousness.  Nations,  like  individuals,  never  rise  higher 
than  when  they  are  ignorant  whither  they  are  tending.  It  is 
impossible  to  tell  from  history,  what  will  be  the  effects  of  agri- 
culture, industry,  temperance,  and  commerce,  urged  on  by  the 
competition  of  colonies,  united  in  the  same  general  pursuits,  in 
a  country,  which  for  extent,  variety  of  soil,  climate,  and  num- 
ber of  navigable  rivers,  has  never  been  equalled  in  any  quarter 
of  the  globe.  America  is  the  theatre  where  human  nature  will 
probably  receive  her  last  and  principal  literary,  moral  and  politi- 
cal honors. 

But  I  recall  myself  from  the  ages  of  futurity.  The  province 
of  Pennsylvania  has  already  shewn  to  her  sister  colonies,  the 
influence  of  agriculture  and  commerce  upon  the  number  and 
happiness  of  a  people.  It  is  scarcely  an  hundred  years  since  our 
illustrious  legislator,  with  an  handful  of  men,  landed  upon  these 
shores.  Although  the  perfection  of  our  government,  the  healthi- 
ness of  our  climate,  and  the  fertility  of  our  soil,  seemed  to  insure 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          291 

a  rapid  settlement  of  the  province;  yet  it  would  have  required 
a  prescience  bordering  upon  divine,  to  have  foretold,  that  in 
such  a  short  space  of  time,  the  province  would  contain  above 
300,000  inhabitants;  and  that  near  30,000  of  this  number  should 
compose  a  city,  which  should  be  the  third,  if  not  the  second  in 
commerce  in  the  British  empire.  The  pursuits  of  literature  re- 
quire leisure  and  a  total  recess  from  clearing  forests,  planting, 
building,  and  all  the  common  toils  of  settling  a  new  country: 
but  before  these  arduous  works  were  accomplished,  the  SCIENCES, 
ever  fond  of  the  company  of  liberty  and  industry,  chose  this 
spot  for  the  seat  of  their  empire  in  this  new  world.  Our  COLLEGE, 
so  catholic  in  its  foundation,  and  extensive  in  its  objects,  already 
sees  her  sons  executing  offices  in  the  highest  departments  of 
society.  I  have  now  the  honour  of  speaking  in  the  presence  of  a 
most  respectable  number  of  philosophers,  physicians,  astrono- 
mers, botanists,  patriots,  and  legislators;  many  of  whom  have 
already  seized  the  prizes  of  honour,  which  their  ancestors  had 
allotted  to  a  much  later  posterity.  Our  first  offering  had  scarcely 
found  its  way  into  the  temple  of  fame,  when  the  oldest  societies 
in  Europe  turned  their  eyes  upon  us,  expecting  with  impatience 
to  see  the  mighty  fabric  of  science,  which  like  a  well  built  arch, 
can  only  rest  upon  the  whole  of  its  materials,  completely  finished 
from  the  treasures  of  this  unexplored  quarter  of  the  globe. 

It  reflects  equal  honour  upon  our  society  and  the  honourable 
assembly  of  our  province,  to  acknowledge,  that  we  have  always 
found  the  latter  willing  to  encourage  by  their  patronage,  and 
reward  by  their  liberality,  all  our  schemes  for  promoting  useful 
knowledge.  What  may  we  not  expect  from  this  harmony  be- 
tween the  sciences  and  government!  Methinks  I  see  canals  cut, 
rivers  once  impassible  rendered  navigable,  bridges  erected,  and 
roads  improved,  to  facilitate  the  exportation  of  grain.  I  see  the 
banks  of  our  rivers  vying  in  fruitfulness  with  the  banks  of  the 
river  of  Egypt.  I  behold  our  farmers,  nobles;  our  merchants 
princes.  But  I  forbear — Imagination  cannot  swell  with  the  sub- 
ject. 

I  beg  leave  to  conclude,  by  deriving  an  argument  from  our 


292       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

connection  with  the  legislature,  to  remind  my  auditors  of  the 
duty  they  owe  to  the  society.  Patriotism  and  literature  are  here 
connected  together;  and  a  man  cannot  neglect  the  one  without 
being  destitute  of  the  other.  Nature  and  our  ancestors  have 
completed  their  works  among  us;  and  have  left  us  nothing  to  do, 
but  to  enlarge  and  perpetuate  our  own  happiness. 


THE     VICES     AND      VIRTUES 
OF     PHYSICIANS 

A  Lecture 


MAN  is  A  compound  of  good  and  evil.  These  dispositions  appear 
in  different  proportions,  according  to  the  circumstances  in  which 
he  is  placed.  They  are  much  influenced  by  different  states  of 
society,  and  by  different  pursuits  and  occupations  in  life.  Every 
profession  has  its  peculiar  vices  and  virtues.  The  business  of  our 
present  lecture  shall  be  to  point  out  such  of  them  as  are  attached 
to  the  profession  of  medicine.  This  investigation  I  hope  will  be 
useful,  by  teaching  you  in  your  outset  in  life,  to  avoid  the  former, 
and  to  cherish  the  latter.  By  these  means,  you  will  at  once  render 
the  practice  of  physic,  and  your  own  characters,  more  respectable. 
You  will  likewise  be  enabled  thereby,  to  bear  With  more  com- 
posure and  fortitude,  the  vexations  and  distresses  which  are  con- 
nected with  a  medical  life. 

The  vices  of  physicians  may  be  divided  into  three  heads. 
I.  As  they  relate  to  the  Supreme  Being. 

II.  To  their  patients,  and 

III.  To  their  professional  brethren. 

i  st.  Under  the  first  head  I  shall  begin  by  lamenting,  that  men 
whose  educations  necessarily  open  to  them  the  wisdom  and 
goodness  of  the  Creator,  and  whose  duties  lead  them  constantly 
to  behold  his  power  over  human  life,  and  all  its  comforts,  should 
be  so  very  prone  to  forget  him.  This  they  evidence  by  their 
neglect  of  that  worship,  which  is  paid  to  him  in  different  forms, 
under  true,  or  false  names,  in  every  country.  If  it  be  a  fact,  that 

203 


294       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

physicians  are  more  inclined  to  infidelity,  than  any  other  body 
of  men,  it  must  be  ascribed  chiefly  to  this  cause.  To  correct  this 
disposition,  it  is  necessary  we  should  be  frequently  reminded  of 
the  arguments  on  which  Christianity  is  founded,  and  of  the 
numerous  and  powerful  motives  which  enforce  a  belief  of  it. 
It  is  in  places  of  public  worship  that  these  arguments  and  mo- 
tives are  delivered  to  the  most  advantage,  and  it  is  by  neglecting 
to  hear  them,  that  the  natural  propensity  of  the  human,  heart 
to  infidelity,  is  cherished  and  promoted.  This  vice  of  the  under- 
standing has  no  natural  alliance  with  the  practice  of  physic,  for 
to  no  secular  profession  does  the  Christian  religion  afford  more 
aid,  than  to  medicine.  Our  business  leads  us  daily  into  the  abodes 
of  pain  and  misery.  It  obliges  us  likewise,  frequently  to  witness 
the  fears  with  which  our  friends  leave  the  world,  and  the  anguish 
which  follows,  in  their  surviving  relatives.  Here  the  common 
resources  of  our  art  fail  us,  but  the  comfortable  views  of  the 
divine  government,  and  of  a  future  state,  which  are  laid  open 
by  Christianity,  more  than  supply  their  place.  A  pious  word, 
dropped  from  the  lips  of  a  physician  in  such  circumstances  of 
his  patients,  often  does  more  good  than  a  long,  and  perhaps 
an  ingenious  discourse  from  another  person,  inasmuch  as  it  falls 
upon  the  heart,  in  the  moment  of  its  deepest  depression  from 
grief.  There  is  no  substitute  for  this  cordial  in  the  materia 
medica. 

id.  An  undue  confidence  in  medicine,  to  the  exclusion  of  a 
Divine  and  Superintending  Power  over  the  health  and  lives  of 

men,  is  another  vice  among  physicians.  A  Dr. ,  in  New 

York  prescribed  on  an  evening,  for  a  sick  man.  The  next  day 
he  called  and  asked  him  how  he  was,  "Much  better  (said  he) 
thank  God."  "Thank  God!  (said  the  doctor)  thank  me,  it  was 
I  who  cured  you." 

3d.  Drunkenness  is  a  medical  vice,  which  offends  not  only 
God,  but  man.  It  is  generally  induced  by  fatigue,  and  exposure 
to  great  heat  and  cold.  But  a  habit  of  drinking  intemperately  is 
often  incurred  by  a  social  spirit,  leading  physicians  to  accept  of 
offers  of  wine,  or  spirits  and  water,  in  every  house  they  enter, 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          295 

in  the  former  part  of  the  day.  Good  men  have  often  been 
seduced  and  ruined  by  this  complaisant  practice.  I  shall  here- 
after mention  to  you  the  safety,  and  advantages  of  eating  a  little 
fruit,  or  portable  aliment,  in  preference  to  drinks  of  any  kind 
before  dinner,  or  when  the  body  is  in  a  languid  state  from  fatigue. 
Drunkenness  is  a  hideous  vice  in  any  person,  but  peculiarly  so 
in  a  physician.  If  it  rendered  him  offensive  to  his  patients  only 
by  the  smell  it  imparted  to  his  breath,  it  should  be  a  sufficient 
motive  to  deter  him  from  it,  but  its  evils  are  much  more  serious 
and  extensive.  It  corrupts  his  manners,  impairs  his  judgment, 
and  renders  him  unfit  to  prescribe  for  the  sick.  Two  instances  of 
death  have  occurred,  within  my  knowledge,  from  patients  tak- 
ing excessive  doses  of  liquid  laudanum,  from  the  hands  of  a 
drunken  physician. 

4th.  The  members  of  our  profession  have  sometimes  been 
charged  with  an  irreverent,  and  profane  use  of  the  name  of  the 
Supreme  Being,  but  from  the  general  disrepute  in  which  that 
vice  is  now  held  in  genteel  life,  I  am  happy  in  adding  that  it  is 
less  common  among  physicians,  than  it  was  forty  years  ago. 

II.  In  speaking  of  the  vices  of  physicians  as  far  as  they  relate 
to  their  patients,  I  pass  over  numerous  acts  of  imposture.  They 
are  all  more  or  less  contrary  to  good  morals.  I  shall  at  present 
only  mention  the  more  obvious  and  positive  vices  which  belong 
to  this  head.  They  are 

i st.  Falsehood.  This  vice  discovers  itself  chiefly  in  the  de- 
ceptions which  are  practised  by  physicians  with  respect  to  the 
cause,  nature,  and  probable  issue  of  diseases.  What  oceans  of 
falsehoods  have  issued  from  the  members  of  our  profession, 
upon  the  cause  of  pestilential  epidemics,  in  all  ages  and  coun- 
tries! How  many  false  names  have  been  given  to  them  to  conceal 
their  existence!  In  England  the  plague  of  1664,  was  called,  for 
several  months,  by  the  less  alarming  name  of  a  spotted  fever. 
In  the  United  States  of  America,  the  yellow  fever,  is  deprived 
for  a  while  of  the  terror  it  ought  to  produce  in  order  to  its 
being  avoided,  or  cured,  by  receiving  the  name  of  a  common 
remittent,  or  by  being  ascribed  to  intemperance,  or  to  some 


296       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

cause  which  only  excited  it  into  action.  Equally  criminal  is  the 
practice  among  some  physicians  of  encouraging  patients  to  ex- 
pect a  recovery,  in  diseases  which  have  arrived  at  their  incurable 
stage.  The  mischief  done  by  falsehood  in  this  case,  is  the  more 
to  be  deplored,  as  it  often  prevents  the  dying  from  settling  their 
worldly  affairs,  and  employing  their  last  hours  in  preparing  for 
their  future  state. 

This  vice  in  physicians  sometimes  appears  in  histories,  of  cases 
that  never  existed,  and  of  cures  that  were  never  performed. 
When  it  assumes  this  hateful  form,  its  evil  consequences  become 
extensive  and  durable,  from  the  difficulty  with  which  it  is  detected 
and  exposed. 

id.  Inhumanity  is  a  vice  which  sometimes  appears  in  the 
conduct  of  physicians  to  their  patients.  It  discovers  itself  in  the 
want  of  prompt  'and  punctual  attendance  upon  the  sick,  and  in 
a  careless  or  unfeeling  manner  in  sick  rooms.  This  insensibility 
to  human  suffering  is  very  happily  exposed  in  the  New  Bath 
Guide;  I  should  have  supposed  it  too  highly  coloured,  had  I  not 
heard  of  similar  instances  of  inhumanity  in  several  members  of 
our  profession.  A  lord  of  session,  once  fell  from  his  seat  in  the 
court  of  Edinburgh  in  an  apoplexy.  A  physician  was  called  in 
haste  to  see  him.  He  applied  his  fingers  to  his  pulse.  His  brother 
judges,  and  a  croud  of  spectators  waited  with  solicitude  to  know 
whether  he  still  retained  any  sign  of  life.  "He  is  dead,"  said  the 
physician,  and  in  the  same  breath,  said  to  a  person  who  stood 
next  to  him,  "Pray  sir,  shall  we  have  a  Spanish  war."  It  is  some 
consolation  to  the  lovers  of  the  healing  art  to  recollect,  that  such 
instances  of  a  want  of  sympathy  and  decency  in  physicians  are 
very  rare,  and  that  examples  of  a  contrary  disposition,  as  I  hope 
to  prove  hereafter,  are  more  common  amongst  them. 

3d.  Avarice,  in  all  its  forms  of  meanness,  oppression,  and 
cruelty,  is  a  frequent  vice  among  physicians.  It  discovers 
itself, 

i  st.  In  a  denial  of  services  to  the  poor.  I  once  heard  a  physi- 
cian's eminence  estimated  by  the  fewness  of  his  bad  debts,  and 
by  his  doing  no  business,  for  which  he  was  not  paid.  We  had 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          297 

a  trader  in  medicine  of  this  kind  in  Philadelphia,  many  years  ago, 
who  constantly  refused  to  attend  poor  people,  and  when  called 
upon  to  visit  them,  drove  them  from  his  door  by  a  name  so 
impious,  that  I  shall  not  mention  it.  This  sordid  conduct  is  some- 
times aggravated  by  being  exercised  towards  old  patients,  who 
have  been  unfortunate  in  business,  in  the  evening  of  their  lives. 
We  owe  much  to  the  families,  who  employ  us  in  the  infancy  of 
our  knowledge  and  experience.  It  is  an  act,  therefore,  of  in- 
gratitude, as  well  as  avarice,  to  neglect  them  under  the  pressure 
of  age  and  poverty,  as  well  as  sickness,  or  to  consign  them  over 
to  young  physicians  or  quacks,  who  are  ignorant  of  their  con- 
stitutions and  habits,  and  strangers  to  the  respect  they  com- 
manded in  their  better  days. 

zcl.  Avarice,  in  physicians,  discovers  itself  in  their  extrava- 
gant charges,  and  in  the  means  which  arc  sometimes  employed 
to  obtain  payment  for  such  debts  as  are  just.  I  have  heard  of  a 
surgeon  in  the  British  army,  who  made  it  a  practice  to  take  the 
swords  of  the  officers,  as  a  security  for  the  future  payment  of 
his  bills.  A  physician,  in  this  country,  once  took,  by  legal  force, 
a  solitary  cow  from  a  poor  woman,  on  which  she  chiefly  relied 
for  the  subsistence  of  her  family.  But  it  is  after  the  death  of  the 
master  of  a  family,  that  the  avarice  of  physicians  appears  in  its 
most  distressing  and  cruel  forms.  Behold  one  of  these  harpies 
enter  into  the  house  of  a  widow,  who  has  just  been  bereaved 
of  her  husband,  on  whose  daily  labour  she  depended  for  her 
daily  support.  Unmoved  by  her  tears,  and  by  the  sight  of  a 
group  of  helpless  children,  calling  upon  her,  perhaps  in  vain, 
for  their  customary  articles  of  food,  sternly  he  demands  an 
immediate  settlement  of  his  account.  Gracious  Father  of  the 
human  race!  touch  the  heart  of  this  wretch  with  a  sudden  sense 
of  thy  justice,  and  cause  him  to  feel  the  enormity  of  his  crime! 
But  if,  by  persevering  in  habits  of  extortion,  he  has  forfeited 
thy  reclaiming  mercy,  extend  thy  pity  to  the  family  which  thou 
hast  sorely  afflicted,  and  discover  to  them,  by  some  unexpected 
act  of  thy  bounty,  that  thou  art  indeed  a  friend  to  the  fatherless, 
and  the  widow's  God! 


298       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

3d.  To  undertake  the  charge  of  sick  people,  and  to  neglect 
them  afterwards,  is  a  vice  of  a  malignant  dye  in  a  physician. 
Many  lives  have  been  lost,  by  the  want  of  punctual  and  regular 
attention  to  the  varying  symptoms  of  diseases;  but  still  more 
have  been  sacrificed  by  the  criminal  preference,  which  has  been 
given  by  physicians  to  ease,  convivial  company,  or  public  amuse- 
ments and  pursuits,  to  the  care  of  their  patients.  The  most  im- 
portant contract  that  can  be  made,  is  that  which  takes  place 
between  a  sick  man  and  his  doctor.  The  subject  of  it  is  human 
life.  The  breach  of  this  contract,  by  wilful  negligence,  when 
followed  by  death,  is  murder;  and  it  is  because  our  penal  laws 
are  imperfect,  that  the  punishment  of  that  crime  is  not  inflicted 
upon  physicians  who  are  guilty  of  it. 

4th.  It  is  a  vice  in  a  physician  to  study,  more^to  please,  than 
to  cure  his  patients.  Dr.  Young  calls  such  preachers,  as  prefer 
pleasing  their  hearers,  to  instructing  and  reforming  them, 
"downy  doctors."  The  same  epithet  may  be  applied  to  physi- 
cians, who  prescribe  for  the  whims  of  their  patients,  instead 
of  their  diseases.  The  life  of  a  sick  man  should  be  the  first  object 
of  a  physician's  solicitude,  and  he  is  not  prepared  to  do  his 
duty,  until  he  can  sacrifice  his  interest  and  reputation  to  pre- 
serve it. 

5th.  The  last  vice  I  shall  mention  under  this  head,  is,  ob- 
stinacy in  adhering  to  old  and  unsuccessful  modes  of  practice, 
in  diseases  which  have  yielded  to  new  remedies.  Dr.  Chisholm 
relates  several  flagrant  instances  of  this  vice,  in  the  treatment 
of  the  yellow  fever,  in  his  late  essay  upon  that  pestilential  dis- 
ease in  the  West  Indies.  This  obstinacy  was  the  more  criminal 
in  the  physicians  alluded  to,  as  they  had  constantly  before  their 
eyes,  numerous  and  irrefragable  evidences  of  the  success  of 
a  different  mode  of  practice,  which  the  Doctor  had  in- 
troduced into  the  islands.  Many  similar  instances  of  this  hoary 
headed  indifference  to  human  life,  are  to  be  met  with  in  all 
countries. 

III.  Agreeably  to  our  order,  I  should  proceed  next  to  men- 
tion the  vices  of  physicians  towards  their  professional  brethren, 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          299 

but  for  obvious  reasons,  I  shall  pass  over  this  disagreeable  part 
of  our  subject  in  silence,  and  hasten,  with  pleasure,  to  speak  of 
the  VIRTUES  of  physicians. 

Here  a  delightful  field  opens  to  our  view.  It  will  be  impossible 
to  mark  every  part  of  it  with  our  footsteps.  I  shall,  therefore, 
only  mention  those  virtues,  which  are  most  conspicuous  and 
practical  in  the  members  of  our  profession. 

i.  Piety  towards  God  has,  in  many  instances,  characterized 
some  of  the  first  physicians  in  ancient  and  modern  times.  Hip- 
pocrates did  homage  to  the  gods  of  Greece,  and  Galen  van- 
quished atheism  for  a  while,  in  Rome,  by  proving  the  existence 
of  a  god,  from  the  curious  structure  of  the  human  body.  Botallus, 
the  illustrious  father  of  blood-letting,  in  Europe,  in  a  treatise, 
"de  munere  medici  ct  aegri,"  advises  a  physician,  when  called 
to  visit  a  patient,  never  to  leave  his  house,  without  offering  up 
a  prayer  to  God,  for  the  success  of  his  prescriptions.  Cheselden, 
the  famous  English  anatomist,  always  implored,  in  the  presence 
of  his  pupils,  the  aid  and  blessing  of  heaven  upon  his  hand, 
whenever  he  laid  hold  of  an  instrument,  to  perform  a  surgical 
operation.  Sydenham,  the  great  luminary  and  reformer  of  medi- 
cine, was  a  religious  man.  Boerhaave  spent  an  hour  in  his  closet, 
every  morning,  in  reading  the  scriptures,  before  he  entered  upon 
the  duties  of  his  profession.  Hoffman  and  Stahl  were  not  ashamed 
of  the  gospel  of  Christ,  and  Dr.  Haller  has  left  behind  him,  an 
eloquent  defence  of  it  in  a  series  of  letters  to  his  daughter. 
Dr.  Lobb  exhibited  daily,  for  many  years,  to  the  citizens  of  Lon- 
don, his  reliance  upon  divine  aid  to  render  his  practice  successful, 
by  inscribing  "Deo  adjuvante"  upon  his  family  amis,  which  were 
painted  upon  his  chariot.  Dr.  FothergilPs  long  life  resembled 
an  altar,  from  which,  incense  of  adoration  and  praise  ascended 
daily  to  the  Supreme  Being.  Dr.  Hartley,  whose  works  will 
probably  perish,  only  with  time  itself,  was  a  devout  Christian. 
To  the  record  of  these  medical  worthies,  I  shall  add  but  one 
remark,  and  that  is,  the  weight  of  their  names  alone,  in  favour 
of  revelation,  is  sufficient  to  turn  the  scale  against  all  the  infidelity, 
that  has  ever  dishonoured  the  science  of  medicine. 


3oo       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

2.  Humanity  has  been  a  conspicuous  virtue  among  physicians 
in  all  ages  and  countries.  It  manifests  itself, 

i  st.  In  their  sacrifices  and  sufferings,  in  order  to  acquire  a 
knowledge  of  all  the  different  branches  of  medicine.  For  this, 
they  spend  months,  and  years,  in  dissecting  dead  bodies,  or  in 
the  smoke  of  laboratories;  or  in  visiting  foreign,  and  sometimes 
uncivilized  countries;  or  in  making  painful  and  expensive  experi- 
ments upon  living  animals.  Many  physicians  have  contracted 
diseases,  and  some  have  perished  in  these  loathsome  and  danger- 
ous enterprizes,  all  of  which  are  intended  for  the  benefit  of  their 
fellow-creatures. 

zd.  No  sooner  do  they  enter  upon  the  duties  of  their  pro- 
fession, than  they  are  called  upon  to  exhibit  their  humanity  by 
sympathy,  with  pain  and  distress  in  persons  of  all  r+inks.  It  is  this 
heaven-born  principle,  which  produces  such  acts  of  self-denial 
of  company,  pleasure,  and  sleep,  in  physicians.  It  is  this,  which 
enables  them  to  sustain  the  extremes  of  heat  and  cold,  and  the 
most  laborious  exertions  of  body  and  mind.  Hippocrates,  who 
furnished  the  earliest,  has  likewise  exhibited  the  most  prominent 
example  of  this  divine  form  of  humanity,  of  any  physician  that 
ever  lived.  One  while  we  behold  him  travelling  through  the  cities 
and  provinces  of  Greece,  dispensing  health  and  joy  wherever 
he  went.  Again,  we  sec  him  yielding  to  the  solicitations  of  neigh- 
bouring princes,  and  extending  the  blessings  of  his  skill  to  foreign 
nations.  "There  was  but  one  sentiment  in  his  soul"  says  Galen, 
"and  that  was  the  love  of  doing  good,  and  in  the  course  of  his 
long  life,  but  a  single  act,  and  that  was  the  relieving  the  sick" 
It  was,  from  the  influence  which  his  humane  feelings  had  upon 
his  judgment,  that  he  has  left  the  following  remark  upon  record, 
in  speaking  of  the  education  of  a  young  man,  intended  for  the 
study  of  medicine.  "Does  he  suffer"  says  the  venerable  man, 
"with  the  sufferings  of  others?  does  he  naturally  feel  the  tender- 
est  commiseration  for  the  woes  incident  to  his  fellow  mortals? 
you  may  reasonably  infer  that  he  will  be  passionately  devoted 
to  an  art,  that  will  instruct  him  in  what  manner  to  afford  them 
relief."  This  noble  sympathy,  in  physicians,  is  sometimes  so 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          301 

powerful,  as  to  predominate  over  the  fear  of  death;  hence  we 
observe  them  to  expose,  and  frequently  to  sacrifice  their  lives, 
in  contending  with  mortal  epidemics.  The  United  States  have 
lately  furnished  numerous  instances  of  death  in  physicians,  from 
their  ardent  attachment  to  their  patients.  The  grave-yards  of 
Philadelphia  alone  hold  the  precious  relicts  of  three  and  twenty 
members  of  our  profession,  who  have  died  martyrs  to  this  affec- 
tionate and  heroic  sympathy,  since  the  year  1793. 

3d.  Humanity  in  physicians  manifests  itself  in  gratuitous 
services  to  the  poor.  The  greatest  part  of  the  business  of  Dr. 
Sydenham,  seems  to  have  been  confined  to  poor  people.  It  is  true, 
he  now  and  then  speaks  of  a  noble  lady,  and  of  a  learned  prelate, 
in  the  history  of  cases,  but  these  were  accidental  patients.  The 
fashionable  part  of  the  citizens  of  London  were  deterred  from 
consulting  him,  by  the  clamours  excited  against  his  new  practice, 
by  his  medical  brethren,  particularly  by  Dr.  Morton,  whom 
Dr.  Haller  calls  "the  rival  and  adversary"  of  this  excellent  man. 
Dr.  Boerhaave  did  a  great  deal  of  business  among  the  poor.  In 
his  attendance  upon  them,  he  discovered,  it  is  said,  more  solicitude 
and  punctuality,  than  in  his  attendance  upon  his  rich  patients. 
Being  asked  by  a  friend  his  reason  for  so  doing,  he  answered, 
"I  esteem  the  poor  my  best  patients,  for  God  is  their  pay-master." 
Dr.  Cullen  spent  the  first  years  of  his  long  and  useful  life,  in 
doing  business,  for  which  he  was  never  paid,  and  when  he  rose 
to  the  first  rank  in  his  profession,  did  not  forget  that  humble 
class  of  people,  from  whom  he  derived  his  knowledge  and  repu- 
tation. Dr.  Fothergill  devoted  an  hour  every  morning,  before  he 
left  his  house,  to  prescribing  for  the  poor,  and  in  his  annual  visit 
to  Leahall,  in  Cheshire,  he  spent  one  day  of  every  week,  in  the 
same  humane  and  benevolent  business.  Public  dispensaries  were 
projected,  and  are  still  conducted,  chiefly  by  physicians.  These 
excellent  institutions  mark  an  aera  in  the  history  of  human 
beneficence.  They  yearly  save  many  thousand  lives. 

4th.  Humanity  in  physicians  discovers  itself  in  pecuniary 
contributions,  as  well  as  in  advice,  for  the  relief  of  the  poor. 
I  have  read  an  account  of  a  physician  in  England,  who  gave  all 


302       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

the  fees  he  received  on  a  Sunday,  to  charitable  purposes.  Dr. 
Heberdeen's  liberality  to  the  poor  was  so  great,  that  he  was  once 
told  by  a  friend,  that  he  would  exhaust  his  fortune.  "No,"  said 
he,  "after  all  my  charities,  I  am  afraid  I  shall  die  shamefully 
rich."  Dr.  Fothergill  once  heard  of  the  death  of  a  citizen  of 
London,  who  had  left  his  family  in  indigent  circumstances. 
As  soon  as  he  was  interred,  the  doctor  called  upon  his  widow, 
and  informed  her,  that  he  had,  some  years  before,  received 
thirty  guineas  for  as  many  visits  he  had  paid  her  husband  in  the 
days  of  his  prosperity.  "I  have  since  heard,"  said  the  doctor 
"of  his  reverse  of  fortune.  Take  this  purse.  It  contains  all  that 
I  received  from  him.  It  will  do  thy  family  more  good,  than  it 
will  do  me."  A  poor  curate,  who  lived  in  the  city  of  London 
upon  fifty  pounds  a  year,  called  upon  this  worthy  man  for 
advice  for  his  wife  and  five  children,  who  were  ill  of  an  epidemic 
disease,  then  prevalent  in  that  city.  The  doctor,  without  being 
requested,  visited  them  the  next  day,  and  attended  them  daily 
till  they  were  all  cured.  The  curate,  by  great  exertions,  saved 
a  trifling  sum  of  money,  which  he  offered  to  the  doctor,  as  a 
compensation  for  his  services.  He  refused  to  receive  it  ...  but 
this  was  not  all  ...  he  put  ten  guineas  into  his  hand,  and 
begged  him,  at  the  same  time,  to  apply  to  him  for  relief  in  all 
his  future  difficulties.*  Similar  anecdotes  of  his  liberality  might 
be  multiplied  without  end.  It  is  said,  he  gave  away  one  half 
of  all  the  income  of  his  extensive  and  lucrative  business,  amount- 
ing, in  the  course  of  his  life,  to  one  hundred  thousand  pounds. 
What  an  immense  interest  in  honour  and  happiness  must  this 
sum  produce  to  him  at  the  general  judgment!  With  what  un- 
speakable gratitude  and  delight,  may  we  not  suppose  the  many 
hundred,  and  perhaps  thousand  persons,  whom  he  has  fed, 
clothed,  and  rescued  from  prison  and  death  by  his  charities, 
will  gaze  upon  their  benefactor  in  that  solemn  day,  while  the 
Supreme  Judge  credits  them  all,  as  done  to  himself,  in  the  pres- 
ence of  an  assembled  world. 

*  Lettsom's  Life  of  Fothergill. 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          303 

III.  Physicians  have  been  distinguished  in  many  instances,  for 
their  patriotism.  By  this  virtue,  I  mean  a  disposition  to  promote 
all  the  objects  of  utility,  convenience,  and  pleasure,  and  to  re- 
move all  the  evils  of  the  country  to  which  we  belong.  It  embraces 
all  the  interests  and  wants  of  every  class  of  citizens,  and  manifests 
itself  in  a  great  variety  of  forms.  I  shall  briefly  enumerate  them. 

i st.  It  appears  in  acts  of  liberality  to  promote  science,  and 
particularly  medicine.  The  British  Museum  was  the  gift  of  a 
physician  to  the  British  nation.  Dr.  Radcliff  founded  a  library 
at  Oxford,  and  bequeathed  three  hundred  pounds  to  be  applied 
to  the  maintenance  of  a  constant  succession  of  students  of  medi- 
cine, who  should  spend  three  years  in  foreign  countries,  in  search 
of  medical  knowledge.  Dr.  Fothergill  gave  one  hundred  guineas 
a  year  to  Dr.  Priestley,  to  defray  the  expenses  of  his  chemical 
laboratory.  But  the  patronage  afforded  to  science  by  that  great 
man,  was  not  confined  to  his  own  country.  The  Pennsylvania 
hospital  will  preserve,  I  hope,  to  the  end  of  time,  a  testimony 
of  his  munificence,  in  the  elegant  casts  and  paintings  of  the  gravid 
uterus,  which  compose  a  part  of  the  museum  of  that  institution. 

zd.  Patriotism  in  physicians  has  discovered  itself  in  attempts 
and  plans  to  obviate  the  prevailing  diseases  of  their  native  coun- 
try. Hippocrates  was  once  invited  by  the  kings  of  Illyria  and 
Peonia,  to  come  to  the  relief  of  their  subjects,  who  were  afflicted 
by  the  plague.  He  inquired  of  the  messenger,  into  the  course  of 
the  winds  in  those  countries.  Upon  being  informed  of  their  direc- 
tion, he  concluded  the  same  disease  would  visit  Athens,  and  de- 
clined the  honour  intended  him,  that  he  might  devote  himself 
immediately  to  the  means  of  saving  a  city  of  his  own  country 
from  destruction.  A  physician  delivered  Calcutta  from  an  epi- 
demic malignant  fever,  by  pointing  out  a  new  and  effectual 
mode  of  conveying  off  its  filth.  The  city  of  Frankfort,  in  Ger- 
many, was  saved  from  an  occasional  pestilence,  by  a  physician 
tracing  its  origin  to  a  number  of  offensive  privies.  The  physicians 
of  all  the  cities  in  the  United  States  (Philadelphia  excepted), 
have,  with  nearly  perfect  unanimity,  derived  our  annual  bilious 
plague  from  domestic  sources,  and  recommended  remedies  for  it, 


3o4       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

which,  if  adopted,  would  ensure  a  perpetual  exemption  of  our 
country  from  it.  The  many  excellent  treatises  upon  the  means 
of  preventing  diseases,  from  errors  in  diet,  dress,  exercise  and  the 
like,  that  have  been  published  by  physicians  in  all  ages  and  coun- 
tries, show  that  self-love  is  a  weaker  principle  in  them,  than  a 
regard  to  the  general  health  and  welfare  of  their  fellow- 
citizens. 

3d.  Physicians  have  contributed  largely  to  the  prosperity  of 
their  respective  countries,  by  recommending  and  patronizing 
plans  for  promoting  agriculture,  commerce,  morals  and  literature. 
Dr.  Fothergill's  garden  at  Upton,  was  a  kind  of  hotbed  of  useful 
plants,  for  the  whole  nation.  His  active  mind  was  always  busy 
in  devising  public  improvements  that  were  calculated  to  increase 
the  wealth,  the  knowledge,  the  happiness  and  even  the  elegance 
of  his  country.  Dr.  Black,  Dr.  Home  and  Dr.  Hunter,  have  all 
benefitted  the  British  empire,  by  the  application  of  their  chemical 
researches  to  national  purposes,  particularly  to  agriculture  and 
manufactures. 

4th.  Physicians  have  in  all  ages  exhibited  an  attachment  to 
the  independence,  peace,  and  liberties  of  their  country.  Hip- 
pocrates by  his  influence  in  forming  an  alliance  with  the  Thessa- 
lians,  delivered  his  native  island  of  Cos  from  a  war  with  the 
Athenians.  Dr.  Fothergill  spent  years  of  anxiety  in  fruitless 
efforts  to  prevent  the  effusion  of  kindred  blood,  in  the  war  which 
separated  the  United  States  from  Great  Britain.  He  likewise 
suggested  a  plan  for  securing  a  perpetual  peace  between  the 
nations  of  Europe,  by  the  ties  of  interest,  founded  upon  com- 
merce. There  was  not  a  state  in  our  Union,  during  the  late 
struggle  with  Great  Britain  for  our  independence,  which  did 
not  furnish  instances  of  this  form  of  patriotism  in  physicians. 
Warren  and  Mercer  both  turned  their  backs  upon  profitable 
and  extensive  business,  when  they  led  their  countrymen  into  the 
field,  and  fell  at  the  head  of  their  troops,  bravely  fighting  for 
the  liberties  of  their  country.  Many  of  the  most  distinguished 
characters  in  medicine,  in  Europe,  are  friends  to  liberty,  and  a 
great  majority  of  the  physicians  in  the  United  States,  are  warmly 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          305 

attached  to  the  principles,  and  form  of  our  excellent  republican 
Constitution. 

If  you  feel,  gentlemen,  in  hearing  these  details  of  the  exploits 
of  the  illustrious  worthies  of  our  profession,  as  I  do  in  relating 
them,  you  will  not  regret  the  day,  you  devoted  yourselves  to  the 
study  of  medicine. 

But  there  are  certain  minor  virtues  which  have  adorned  the 
characters  of  physicians,  that  should  not  pass  unnoticed  in 
this  place. 

i  st.  They  have  often  discovered  the  most  extraordinary 
instances  of  candour,  in  acknowledging  mistakes  both  of  opinion 
and  practice.  Hippocrates  has  left  a  testimony  against  himself, 
of  the  loss  of  a  patient,  from  his  inability  to  distinguish  between 
a  suture,  and  a  fracture  of  the  skull;  and  Dr.  Sydenham  tells, 
that  he  generally  lost  several  of  the  first  patients  whom  he  visited 
in  a  new  epidemic.  This  candour  is  the  more  meritorious  in 
physicians,  as  it  seldom  fails  to  lessen  their  credit  with  the  world. 

zd.  The  most  disinterested  and  exalted  acts  of  generosity, 
have  often  been  exhibited  by  physicians  to  each  other.  Dr.  Friend 
was  once  confined  for  an  offensive  act  against  the  British  gov- 
ernment. During  this  time,  Dr.  Mead  attended  his  patients.  After 
his  liberation,  Dr.  Mead  called  upon  him,  and  gave  him  several 
thousand  guineas.  "Take  them,"  said  Dr.  Mead.  "They  are  not 
mine.  I  received  them  all  from  your  patients."  This  act  was  the 
more  meritorious,  as  they  were  competitors  for  business  and 
fame.  Similar  instances  of  generosity  are  common  among  physi- 
cians, though  upon  a  less  scale,  in  all  countries. 

3d.  The  most  delicate  friendships  have  often  subsisted  be- 
tween physicians.  Dr.  Fothergill  and  Dr.  Russell  were  contem- 
poraries in  the  college  of  Edinburgh.  They  passed  the  greatest 
part  of  their  lives  in  a  constant  exchange  of  kind  offices.  The 
eulogium  upon  Dr.  Russell,  delivered  before  the  society  of 
physicians,  in  London,  by  Dr.  Fothergill,  does  equal  honour 
to  the  characters  of  each  of  them. 

4th.  Physicians  often  perform  essential  services  to  the  families 
in  which  they  are  employed,  by  directing  the  education  of  their 


306       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

children,  by  preventing,  or  healing  family  disputes,  and  by  their 
advice  and  influence  in  the  pursuits  and  management  of  the 
common  affairs  of  life. 

5th.  As  sons,  brothers,  and  parents,  physicians  have  often  ex- 
hibited the  most  shining  examples  of  domestic  virtue.  Dr.  Tissot 
was  invited  to  Warsaw,  by  the  late  king  of  Poland,  in  order  to 
become  the  physician  of  his  court.  He  prepared  immediately  to 
accept  the  offer,  but  upon  being  told  by  his  aged  father,  that 
he  would  not  accompany  him,  the  doctor  declined  the  royal 
invitation,  and  ended  his  days  in  an  obscure  situation,  in  his 
native  country.  One  of  the  last  journeys  of  Dr.  FothcrgilPs  life 
was  to  pay  a  tribute  of  respect  to  his  father's  grave  in  Yorkshire. 
He  was  accompanied  in  this  journey  by  his  sister,  who  had  been 
his  companion,  and  housekeeper  for  forty  ycars;  I  shall  give  an 
account  of  this  pious  excursion  in  his  own  words.  "To  see  that 
our  father's  sepulchre  was  not  laid  open  to  the  beasts  of  the 
field,  but  secured  from  the  ravages  of  neglect,  was  to  us  a 
pleasing  duty.  Firmly  persuaded  that  we  had  not  the  least  cause 
to  mourn  upon  his  account;  and  nothing  left  more  becoming 
us,  than  to  call  to  mind  his  precepts,  and  examples,  we  left  the 
solitary  spot  with  hearts  full  of  reverent  thankfulness,  that  such 
was  our  father,  and  that  we  were  so  far  favoured,  as  to  be  able 
to  remember  him  with  gratitude  and  affection." 

From  a  review  of  what  has  been  said  of  the  vices  and  virtues 
of  physicians,  the  following  inferences  may  fairly  be  deduced. 

i  st.  That  their  vices  are  fewer  in  number,  and  of  less  mag- 
nitude, than  their  virtues. 

id.  That  the  profession  of  medicine,  favours  the  practice  of 
all  the  religious,  moral  and  social  duties.  A  physician  of  course 
who  is  a  bad  man,  is  more  inexcusable  than  a  bad  man  of  any 
other  profession,  a  minister  of  the  gospel  excepted. 

3d.  That  the  aggregate  mass  of  physical  misery  that  has  ex- 
isted in  the  world,  owes  more  of  its  relief  to  physicians,  than  to 
any  other  body  of  men. 

Let  us  learn  then,  gentlemen,  duly  to  appreciate  the  profession 
we  have  chosen,  by  acting  agreeably  to  the  duties  it  imposes, 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          307 

and  the  honours  it  has  acquired.  With  this  short  application  of 
the  subject  of  our  lecture,  I  bid  you  welcome  to  our  school  of 
medicine!  The  door  you  have  entered,  and  the  room  you  now 
occupy,  are  devoted  to  Science  and  Humanity.  Let  nothing  in- 
compatible with  the  time  and  attention  which  they  claim,  ever 
find  a  place  within  these  walls.  As  far  as  it  shall  please  God  to 
enable  me,  by  the  continuance  of  my  health,  you  may  rely  upon 
my  seconding  your  diligence,  and  that  I  shall  consider  my  obli- 
gations to  you,  as  my  chief  duty  during  the  winter. 


DUTIES     OF     A     PHYSICIAN 
A  Closing  Lecture  to  Medical  Students 


I  SHALL,  first,  suggest  the  most  probable  means  of  establishing 
yourselves  in  business,  and  of  becoming  acceptable  to  your 
patients,  and  respectable  in  life. 

Secondly.  I  shall  mention  a  few  thoughts  which  have  occurred 
to  me  on  the  mode  to  be  pursued,  in  the  further  prosecution  of 
your  studies,  and  for  the  improvement  of  medicine. 

I.  Permit  me,  in  the  first  place,  to  recommend  to  such  of 
you  as  intend  to  settle  in  the  country,  to  establish  yourselves  as 
early  as  possible  upon  farms.  My  reasons  for  this  advice  are  as 
follow. 

1.  It  will  reconcile  the  country  people  to  the  liberality  and 
dignity  of  your  profession,  by  showing  them  that  you  assume  no 
superiority  over  them  from  your  education,  and  that  you  intend 
to  share  with  them  in  those  toils,  which  were  imposed  upon  man 
in  consequence  of  the  loss  of  his  innocence.  This  will  prevent 
envy,  and  render  you  acceptable  to  your  patients  as  men,  as  well 
as  physicians. 

2.  By  living  on  a  farm  you  may  serve  your  country  by  pro- 
moting improvements  in  agriculture.  Chemistry  (which  is  now 
an  important  branch  of  a  medical  education)  and  agriculture  are 
closely  allied  to  each  other.  Hence  some  of  the  most  useful  books 
upon  agriculture  have  been  written  by  physicians.  Witness  the 
essays  of  Dr.  Home  of 'Edinburgh,  and  of  Dr.  Hunter  of  York- 
shire in  England. 

3.  The  business  of  a  farm  will  furnish  you  with  employment 

308 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          309 

in  the  healthy  seasons'  of  the  year,  and  thereby  deliver  you  from 
the  tedium  vitae,  or  what  is  worse,  from  retreating  to  low  or 
improper  company.  Perhaps  one  cause  of  the  prevalence  of  dram 
or  grog  drinking,  with  which  country  practitioners  are  some- 
times charged,  is  owing  to  their  having  no  regular  or  profitable 
business  to  employ  them  in  the  intervals  of  their  attendance  upon 
their  patients. 

4.  The  resources  of  a  farm  will  create  such  an  independence 
as  will  enable  you  to  practice  with  more  dignity,  and  at  the  same 
time  screen  you  from  the  trouble  of  performing  unnecessary 
services  to  your  patients.  It  will  change  the  nature  of  the  obliga- 
tion between  you  and  them.  While  money  is  the  only  means 
of  your  subsistence,  your  patients  will  feel  that  they  are  the 
channels  of  your  daily  bread;  but  while  your  farm  furnishes  you 
with  the  necessaries  of  life,  your  patients  will  feel  more  sensibly 
that  the  obligation  is  on  their  side,  for  health  and  life. 

5.  The  exigencies  and  wants  of  a  farm,  in  stock  and  labor 
of  all  kinds,  will  enable  you  to  obtain  from  your  patients  a  com- 
pensation for  your  services  in  those  articles.  They  all  possess 
them;  and  men  part  with  that  of  which  money  is  only  the  sign, 
much  more  readily  than  they  do  with  money  itself. 

6.  The  resources  of  a  farm  will  prevent  your  cherishing,  for 
a  moment,  an  impious  wish  for  the  prevalence  of  sickness  in  your 
neighbourhood.  A  healthy  season  will  enable  you  to  add  to  the 
produce  of  your  farm,  while  the  rewards  of  an  unhealthy  season 
will  enable  you  to  repair  the  inconvenience  of  your  necessary 
absence  from  it.  By  these  means  your  pursuits  will  be  marked 
by  that  variety  and  integrity,  in  which  true  happiness  is  said 
to  consist. 

7.  Let  your  farms  be  small,  and  let  your  principal  attention 
be  directed  to  grass  and  horticulture.  These  afford  most  amuse- 
ment, require  only  moderate  labor,  and  will  interfere  least  with 
your  duties  to  your  profession. 

II.  Avoid  singularities  of  every  kind  in  your  manners,  dress, 
and  general  conduct.  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  it  is  said,  could  not  be 
distinguished  in  company,  by  any  peculiarity,  from  a  common 


3io      SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

well-bred  gentleman.  Singularity  in  any  thing,  is  a  substitute  for 
such  great  or  useful  qualities  as  command  respect;  and  hence  we 
find  it  chiefly  in  little  minds.  The  profane  and  indelicate  com- 
bination of  extravagant  ideas,  improperly  called  wit,  and  a 
formal  and  pompous  manner,  whether  accompanied  by  a  wig, 
a  cane,  or  a  ring,  should  all  be  avoided,  as  incompatible  with  the 
simplicity  of  science  and  the  real  dignity  of  physic.  There  is 
more  than  one  way  of  playing  the  quack.  It  is  not  necessary, 
for  this  purpose,  that  a  man  should  advertise  his  skill,  or  his  cures, 
or  that  he  should  mount  a  phaeton  and  display  his  dexterity  in 
operating  to  an  ignorant  and  gaping  multitude.  A  physician  acts 
the  same  part  in  a  different  way,  who  assumes  the  character  of 
a  madman  or  a  brute  in  his  manners,  or  who  conceals  his  falli- 
bility by  an  affected  gravity  and  taciturnity  in  his  intercourse 
with  his  patients.  Both  characters,  like  the  quack,  impose  upon 
the  public.  It  is  true,  they  deceive  different  ranks  of  people;  but 
we  must  remember  that  there  are  two  kinds  of  vulgar,  viz.  the 
rich  and  the  poor;  and  that  the  rich  vulgar  are  often  below  the 
poor,  in  ignorance  and  credulity. 

III.  It  has  been  objected  to  our  profession,  that  many  eminent 
physicians  have  been  unfriendly  to  Christianity.  If  this  be  true, 
I  cannot  help  ascribing  it  in  part  to  that  neglect  of  public  wor- 
ship with  which  the  duties  of  our  profession  are  often  incom- 
patible; for  it  has  been  justly  observed,  that  the  neglect  of  this 
religious  and  social  duty  generally  produces  a  relaxation  either 
in  principles  or  morals.  Let  this  fact  lead  you,  in  setting  out  in 
business,  to  acquire  such  habits  of  punctuality  in  visiting  your 
patients,  as  shall  not  interfere  with  acts  of  public  homage  to  the 
SUPREME  BEING.  Dr.  Gregory  has  observed,  that  a  cold  heart  is 
the  most  frequent  cause  of  deism.  Where  this  occurs  in  a  physi- 
cian, it  affords  a  presumption  that  he  is  deficient  in  humanity. 
But  I  cannot  admit  that  infidelity  is  peculiar  to  our  profession. 
On  the  contrary,  I  believe  Christianity  places  among  its  friends 
more  men  of  extensive  abilities  and  learning,  in  medicine,  than 
in  any  other  secular  employment.  Stahl,  Hoffman,  Boerhaave, 
Sydenham,  Holler  and  Fothergill,  were  all  Christians.  These  en- 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          311 

lightened  physicians  were  considered  as  the  ornaments  of  the 
ages  in  which  they  lived,  and  posterity  has  justly  ranked  them 
among  the  greatest  benefactors  of  mankind. 

IV.  Permit  me  to  recommend  to  you  a  regard  to  all  the 
interests  of  your  country.  The  education  of  a  physician  gives 
him  a  peculiar  insight  into  the  principles  of  many  useful  arts,  and 
the  practice  of  physic  favours  his  opportunities  of  doing  good, 
by  diffusing  knowledge  of  all  kinds.  It  was  in  Rome,  when 
medicine  was  practised  only  by  slaves,  that  physicians  were 
condemned  by  their  profession  "mutam  exercere  artem."  But 
in  modern  times,  and  in  free  governments,  they  should  disdain 
an  ignoble  silence  upon  public  subjects.  The  history  of  the 
American  Revolution  has  rescued  physic  from  its  former  slavish 
rank  in  society.  For  the  honor  of  our  profession  it  should  be 
recorded,  that  some  of  the  most  intelligent  and  useful  characters, 
both  in  the  cabinet  and  the  field,  during  the  late  war,  have  been 
physicians.  The  illustrious  Dr.  Fothergill  opposed  faction  and 
tyranny,  and  took  the  lead  in  all  public  improvements  in  his 
native  country,  without  suffering  thereby  the  least  diminution 
of  that  reputation,  or  business,  in  which,  for  forty  years,  he 
flourished  almost  without  a  rival  in  the  city  of  London. 

V.  Study  simplicity  in  the  preparation  of  your  medicines. 
My  reasons  for  this  advice  are  as  follow. 

1.  Active  medicines  produce  the  most  certain  effects  in  a 
simple  state. 

2.  Medicines  when  mixed  frequently  destroy  the  efficacy 
of  each  other.  I  do  not  include  chemical  medicines  alone  in  this 
remark.  It  applies  likewise  to  galenical  medicines.  Nor  do  I 
assert  that  the  virtues  of  all  these  medicines  are  impaired  by 
mixture;  but  we  can  only  determine  when  they  are  not,  by  actual 
experiments  and  observation. 

3.  When  medicines  of  the  same  class,  or  even  of  different 
classes,  are  given  together,  the  strongest  only  produces  an  effect. 
But  what  are  we  to  say  to  a  compound  of  two  medicines  which 
gives  exactly  the  same  degrees  of  impression  to  the  system?  The 
effect  of  them  will  probably  be  such,  if  we  may  judge  from 


3i2       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

analogy,  as  would  have  been  produced  by  neither  in  a  simple 
state. 

4.  By  observing  simplicity  in  your  prescriptions,  you  will 
always  have  the  command  of  a  greater  number  of  medicines  of 
the  same  class,  which  may  be  used  in  succession  to  each  other, 
in  proportion  as  habit  renders  the  system  insensible  of  their 
action. 

5.  By  using  medicines  ~in  a  simple  state,  you  will  arrive  at 
an  exact  knowledge  of  their  virtues  and  doses,  and  thereby  be 
able  to  decide  upon  the  numerous  and  contradictory  accounts, 
which  exist  in  our  books,  of  the  characters  of  the  same  medicines. 

Under  this  head  I  cannot  help  adding  two  more  directions. 

1.  Avoid  sacrificing  too  much  to  the  taste  of  your  patients, 
in  the  composition  of  your  medicines.  The  nature  of  a  medicine 
may,  in  some  instances,  be  wholly  changed,  by  being  mixed  with 
sweet  substances.  The  Author  of  nature  seems  to  have  had  a 
design  in  making  medicines  unpalatable.  Had  they  been  more 
agreeable  to  the  taste,  they  would  long  ago  have  yielded  to  the 
unbounded  appetites  of  man,  and  by  becoming  articles  of  diet 
or  condiments,  have  lost  their  efficacy  in  diseases. 

2.  Give  as  few  medicines  as  possible  in  tinctures  made  with 
distilled  spirits.  Perhaps  there  are  but  few  cases  in  which  it  is 
safe  to  exhibit  medicines  prepared  in  spirits,  in  any  other  form 
than  ii>  drops.  Many  people  have  been  innocently  seduced  into 
a  love  of  strong  drink,  from  taking  large  or  frequent  doses  of 
bitters  infused  in  spirits.  Let  not  our  profession  in  a  single  in- 
stance be  charged  with  adding  to  the  calamities  which  have  been 
entailed  upon  mankind  by  this  dreadful  species  of  intemperance. 

V.  Let  me  advise  you,  in  your  visits  to  the  sick,  never  to 
appear  in  a  hurry,  nor  to  talk  of  indifferent  matters  before  you 
have  made  the  necessary  inquiries  into  the  symptoms  of  your 
patient's  disease. 

VII.  Avoid  making  light  of  any  case;  "respice  finem"  should 
be  the  motto  of  every  indisposition.  There  is  scarcely  a  disorder 
so  trifling,  that  has  not,  directly  or  indirectly,  proved  an  outlet 
to  human  life.  This  consideration  should  make  you  anxious  and 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          313 

punctual  in  your  attendance  upon  every  acute  disease,  and  keep 
you  from  risking  your  reputation  by  an  improper  or  hasty 
prognosis. 

VIII.  Do  not  condemn,  or  oppose,  unnecessarily,  the  simple 
prescriptions  of  your  patients.  Yield  to  them  in  matters  of  little 
consequence,  but  maintain  an  inflexible  authority  over  them  in 
matters  that  are  essential  to  life. 

IX.  Preserve,  upon  all  occasions,  a  composed  or  cheerful 
countenance  in  the  room  of  your  patients,  and  inspire  as  much 
frope  of  a  recovery  as  you  can,  consistent  with  truth,  especially 
in  acute  diseases.  The  extent  of  the  influence  of  the  will  over 
the  human  body,  has  not  yet  been  fully  ascertained.  I  reject  the 
futile  pretensions  of  Mr.  Mesmer  to  the  cure  of  diseases,  by  what 
he  has  absurdly  called  animal  magnetism;  but  I  am  willing  to 
derive   the   same   advantages  from   his  deceptions,   which   the 
chemists  have  derived  from  the  delusions  of  the  alchemists.  The 
facts  which  he  has  established,  clearly  prove  the  influence  of  the 
imagination  and  will  upon  diseases.  Let  us  avail  ourselves  of  the 
aid  which  these  powers  of  the  mind  present  to  us,  in  the  strife 
between  life  and  death.  I  have  frequently  prescribed  remedies 
of  doubtful  efficacy  in  the  critical  stage  of  acute  diseases,  but 
never  till  I  had  worked  up  my  patients  into  a  confidence,  bor- 
dering upon  certainty,  of  their  probable  good  effects.  The  suc- 
cess of  this  measure  has  much  oftener  answered,  than  disap- 
pointed my  expectations;  and  while  my  patients  have  commended 
the  vomit,  the  purge,  or  the  blister  which  was  prescribed,  I  have 
been  disposed  to  attribute  their  recovery  to  the  vigorous  con- 
currence of  the  will  in  the  action  of  the  medicine.  Does  the  will 
beget  insensibility  to  cold,  heat,  hunger,  and  danger?  Does  it 
suspend  pain,  and  raise  the  body  above  feeling  the  pangs  of 
Indian  tortures?   Let  us  not  then  be  surprised  that  it  should 
enable  the  system  to  resolve  a  spasm,  to  open  an  obstruction,  or 
to  discharge  an  offending  humor.  I  have  only  time  to  hint  at 
this  subject.  Perhaps  it  would  lead  us,  if  we  could  trace  it  fully, 
to  some  very  important  discoveries  in  the  cure  of  diseases. 

X.  Permit  me  to  advise  you  to  attend  to  that  principle  in  the 


314       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

human  mind,  which  constitutes  the  association  of  ideas,  in  your 
intercourse  with  your  patients.  A  chamber,  a  chair,  a  curtain,  or 
even  a  cup,  all  belong  to  the  means  of  life  or  death,  accordingly 
as  they  are  associated  with  cheerful  or  distressing  ideas,  in  the 
mind  of  a  patient.  But  this  principle  is  of  more  immediate  appli- 
cation in  those  chronic  diseases  which  affect  the  mind.  Nothing 
can  be  accomplished  here,  till  we  produce  a  new  association  of 
ideas.  For  this  purpose,  a  change  of  place  and  company  are  abso- 
lutely necessary.  But  we  must  sometimes  proceed  much  further. 
I  have  heard  of  a  gentleman  in  South-Carolina,  who  cured  his 
fits  of  low  spirits  by  changing  his  clothes.  The  remedy  was  a 
rational  one.  It  produced  at  once  a  new  train  of  ideas,  and  thus 
removed  the  paroxysm  of  his  disease. 

XL  A  physician  in  sickness  is  always  a  welcome  visitor  in  a 
family:  hence  he  is  solicited  to  partake  of  the  usual  sign  of  hos- 
pitality in  this  country,  by  taking  a  draught  of  some  strong 
drink  every  time  he  enters  into  the  house  of  a  patient.  Let  me 
charge  you  to  lay  an  early  restraint  upon  yourselves,  by  refusing 
to  yield  to  this  practice,  especially  in  the  forenoon.  Many  physi- 
cians have  been  led  by  it  into  habits  of  drunkenness.  You  will 
be  in  the  more  danger  of  falling  into  this  vice,  from  the  fatigue 
and  inclemency  of  weather  to  which  you  will  be  exposed  in 
country  practice.  But  you  have  been  taught  that  strong  drink 
affords  only  a  temporary  relief  from  those  evils,  and  that  it  tends 
afterwards  to  render  the  body  more  sensible  of  them. 

XII.  Make  it  a  rule  never  to  be  angry  at  any  thing  a  sick  man 
says  or  does  to  you.  Sickness  often  adds  to  the  natural  impatience 
and  irritability  of  the  temper.  We  are,  therefore,  to  submit  to 
the  severe  and  unnecessary  toils  that  are  sometimes  exacted  from 
us,  and  to  bear  even  the  reproaches  of  our  patients  with  meek- 
ness and  silence.  It  is  folly  to  resent  injuries  at  any  time,  but  it  is 
cowardice  to  resent  an  injury  from  a  sick  man;  since,  from  his 
weakness  and  dependence  upon  us,  he  is  unable  to  contend  with 
us  upon  equal  terms.  You  will  find  it  difficult  to  attach  your 
patients  to  you  by  the  obligation  of  friendship  or  gratitude.  You 
will  sometimes  have  the  mortification  of  being  deserted  by  those 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          315 

patients  who  owe  most  to  your  skill  and  humanity.  This  led 
Dr.  Turner  to  advise  physicians  never  to  choose  their  friends 
from  among  their  patients.  But  this  advice  can  never  be  followed 
by  a  heart  that  has  been  taught  to  love  true  excellency,  wherever 
it  finds  it.  I  would  rather  advise  you  to  give  the  benevolent 
feelings  of  your  hearts  full  scope,  and  to  forget  the  unkind 
returns  they  will  often  meet  with,  by  giving  to  human  nature — 
a  tear.  Let  us  not  despair.  From  the  increasing  influence  of 
reason  and  religion  in  our  world,  the  time  must  soon  come,  when 
even  physicians,  and  the  brute  creation,  shall  become  the  objects 
of  the  justice  and  humanity  of  mankind. 

XIII.  Avoid  giving  a  patient  over  in  an  acute  disease.  It  is 
impossible  to  tell,  in  such  cases,  where  life  ends  and  where  death 
begins.  Hundreds  of  patients  have  recovered  who  have  been 
pronounced  incurable,  to  the  great  disgrace  of  our  profession.  I 
know  that  the  practice  of  predicting  danger  and  death  upon 
every  occasion,  is  sometimes  made  use  of  by  physicians,  in  order 
to  enhance  the  credit  of  their  prescriptions,  if  their  patients  re- 
cover, and  to  secure  a  retreat  from  blame,  if  they  should  die. 
But  this  mode  of  acting  is  mean  and  illiberal.  It  is  not  necessary 
that  we  should  decide  with  confidence  at  any  time,  upon  the 
issue  of  a  disease. 

XIV.  Cases  will  frequently  occur  in  which  you  will  be  ex- 
posed to  a  struggle  between  a  regard  for  your  own  reputation, 
and  for  the  life  of  a  patient.  In  such  cases,  let  Christianity  de- 
termine what  is  to  be  done.  That  new  commandment  which 
directs  us  to  make  the  measure  of  our  love  to  our  fellow-creatures, 
the  same  as  the  love  of  the  x\uthor  of  our  religion  was  to  the 
human  race,  certainly  requires  that  we  should  at  all  times  risk, 
and  even  sacrifice  reputation,  to  preserve  the  life  of  a  fellow- 
creature.  The  pusillanimous,  or,  as  he  is  commonly  called,  the 
safe  physician,  who,  absorbed  wholly  in  the  care  of  his  own 
reputation,  views  without  exertion  the  last  conflict  between  life 
and  death  in  a  patient,  in  my  opinion  will  be  found  hereafter 
to  have  been  guilty  of  a  breach  of  the  Sixth  Commandment; 
while  the  conscientious,  or,  as  he  is  commonly  called,  the  bold 


316       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

physician,  who  loses  sight  of  his  character,  and  even  of  the 
means  of  his  subsistence,  and  by  the  use  of  a  remedy  of  doubtful 
efficacy  turns  the  scale  in  favour  of  life,  performs  an  act  that 
borders  upon  divine  benevolence.  A  physician  who  has  pnly 
once  in  his  life  enjoyed  the  godlike  pleasure  that  is  connected 
with  such  an  act  of  philanthropy,  will  never  require  any  other 
consideration  to  reconcile  him  to  the  toils  and  duties  of  his 
profession. 

.   XV.  I  shall  now  give  some  directions  with  respect  to  the 
method  of  charging  for  your  services  to  your  patients. 

When  we  consider  the  expence  of  a  medical  education,  and 
the  sacrifices  a  physician  is  obliged  to  make  of  ease,  society,  and 
even  health,  to  his  profession;  and  when  we  add  to  these,  the 
constant  and  painful  anxiety  which  is  connected^  with  the  im- 
portant charge  of  the  lives  of  our  fellow-creatures,  and  above 
all,  the  inestimable  value  of  that  blessing  which  is  the  object 
of  his  services,  I  hardly  know  how  it  is  possible  for  a  patient 
sufficiently  and  justly  to  reward  his  physician.  But  when  we 
consider,  on  the  other  hand,  that  sickness  deprives  men  of  the 
means  of  acquiring  money;  that  it  increases  all  the  expenses  of 
living;  and  that  high  charges  often  drive  patients  from  regular- 
bred  physicians  to  quacks;  I  say,  when  we  attend  to  these  con- 
siderations, we  should  make  our  charges  as  moderate  as  possible, 
and  conform  them  to  the  following  state  of  things. 

Avoid  measuring  your  services  to  your  patients  by  scruples, 
drachms,  and  ounces.  It  is  an  illiberal  mode  of  charging.  On  the 
contrary,  let  the  number  and  the  time  of  your  visits,  the  nature 
of  your  patient's  disease,  and  his  rank  in  his  family  or  society, 
determine  the  figures  in  your  accounts.  It  is  certainly  just  to 
charge  more  for  curing  an  apoplexy,  than  an  intermitting  fever. 
It  is  equally  just  to  demand  more  for  risking  your  life  by  visiting 
a  patient  in  a  contagious  fever,  than  for  curing  a  pleurisy.  You 
have  a  right  likewise  to  be  paid  for  your  anxiety.  Charge  the 
same  services,  therefore,  higher  to  the  master  or  mistress  of  a 
family,  or  to  an  only  son  or  daughter,  who  call  forth  all  your 
feelings  and  industry,  than  to  less  important  members  of  a  fam- 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          317 

ily  and  of  society.  If  a  rich  man  demands  more  frequent  visits 
than  are  necessary,  and  if  he  imposes  the  restraints  of  keeping 
to  hours  by  calling  in  other  physicians  to  consult  with  you  upon 
every  trifling  occasion,  it  will  be  just  to  make  him  pay  accord- 
ingly for  it.  As  this  mode  of  charging  is  strictly  agreeable  to 
reason  and  equity,  it  seldom  fails  of  according  with  the  reason 
and  sense  of  equity  of  our  patients.  Accounts  made  out  upon 
these  principles,  are  seldom  complained  of  by  them.  I  shall  only 
remark  further  upon  this  subject,  that  the  sooner  you  send  in 
your  accounts  after  your  patients  recover,  the  better.  It  is  the 
duty  of  a  physician  to  inform  his  patient  of  the  amount  of  his 
obligation  to  him  at  least  once  a  year.  But  there  are  times  when 
a  departure  from  this  rule  may  be  necessary.  An  unexpected 
misfortune  in  business,  and  a  variety  of  other  accidents,  may 
deprive  a  patient  of  the  money  he  had  allotted  to  pay  his 
physician.  In  this  case,  delicacy  and  humanity  require,  that  he 
should  not  know  the  amount  of  his  debt  to  his  physician,  till 
time  has  bettered  his  circumstances. 

I  shall  only  add,  under  this  head,  that  the  poor  of  every 
description  should  be  the  objects  of  your  peculiar  care.  Dr. 
Boerhaave  used  to  say,  uthey  were  his  best  patients,  because 
God  was  their  paymaster."  The  first  physicians  that  I  have 
known,  have  found  the  poor  the  steps  by  which  they  ascended 
to  business  and  reputation.  Diseases  among  the  lower  class  of 
people  are  generally  simple,  and  exhibit  to  a  physician  the  best 
cases  of  all  epidemics,  which  cannot  fail  of  adding  to  his  ability 
of  curing  the  complicated  diseases  of  the  rich  and  intemperate. 
There  is  an  inseparable  connection  between  a  man's  duty  and 
his  interest.  Whenever  you  are  called,  therefore,  to  visit  a  poor 
patient,  imagine  you  hear  the  voice  of  the  good  Samaritan  sound- 
ing in  your  ears,  uTake  care  of  him,  and  I  will  repay  thee." 

I  come  now  to  the  second  part  of  this  address,  which  was 
to  point  out  the  best  mode  to  be  pursued,  in  the  further  prosecu- 
tion of  your  studies,  and  the  improvement  of  medicine. 

I.  Give  me  leave  to  recommend  to  you,  to  open  all  the  dead 
bodies  you  can,  without  doing  violence  to  the  feelings  of  your 


3i8       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

patients,  or  the  prejudices  of  the  common  people.  Preserve  a 
register  of  the  weather,  and  of  its  influence  upon  the  vegetable 
productions  of  the  year.  Above  all,  record  the  epidemics  of  every 
season;  their  times  of  appearing,  and  disappearing,  and  the  con- 
nection of  the  weather  with  each  of  them.  Such  records,  if  pub- 
lished, will  be  useful  to  foreigners,  and  a  treasure  to  posterity. 
Preserve,  likewise,  an  account  of  chronic  cases.  Record  the  name, 
age  and  occupation  of  your  patient;  describe  his  disease  accu- 
rately, and  the  changes  produced  in  it  by  your  remedies;  men- 
tion the  doses  of  every  medicine  you  administer  to  him.  It  is 
impossible  to  tell  how  much  improvement  and  facility  in  practice 
you  will  derive  from  following  these  directions.  It  has  been 
remarked,  that  physicians  seldom  remember  more  than  the  two 
or  three  last  years  of  their  practice.  The  reconJs  which  have 
been  mentioned,  will  supply  this  deficiency  of  memory,  espe- 
cially in  that  advanced  stage  of  life  when  the  advice  of  physicians 
is  supposed  to  be  most  valuable. 

II.  Permit  me  to  recommend  to  you  further,  the  study  of 
the  anatomy  (if  I  may  be  allowed  the  expression)  of  the  human 
mind,  commonly  called  metaphysics.  The  reciprocal  influence  of 
the  body  and  mind  upon  each  other,  can  only  be  ascertained  by 
an  accurate  knowledge  of  the  faculties  of  the  mind,  and  of  their 
various  modes  of  combination  and  action.  It  is  the  duty  of  physi- 
cians to  assert  their  prerogative,  and  to  rescue  the  mental  science 
from  the  usurpations  of  schoolmen  and  divines.  It  can  only  be 
perfected  by  the  aid  and  discoveries  of  medicine.  The  authors  I 
would  recommend  to  you  upon  metaphysics,  are,  Butler,  Locke, 
Hartly,  Reid,  and  Beattie.  These  ingenious  writers  have  cleared 
this  sublime  science  of  its  technical  rubbish,  and  rendered  it  both 
intelligible  and  useful. 

HI.  Do  not  confine  your  studies  and  attention  only  to  ex- 
traordinary cases.  The  most  frequent  outlets  of  human  life  are 
through  the  channels  of  common  diseases.  A  late  professor  in  the 
cpllege  of  Glasgow,  when  a  student  in  one  of  the  London  hos- 
pitals, was  observed  to  be  busy  in  examining  the  pulse  of  a 
patient  in  a  fever,  while  all  his  fellow  students  were  employed 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          319 

in  examining  with  uncommon  attention  the  case  of  a  child  with 
two  heads  that  had  just  been  brought  into  the  hospital.  Upon 
being  condemned  by  his  companions  for  neglecting  to  profit  by 
the  examination  of  so  new  a  case,  he  answered,  "I  never  expect 
in  the  whole  course  of  my  life  to  see,  or  hear,  of  another  child 
with  two  heads;  but  I  expect  to  meet  with  fevers  in  my  practice, 
every  day  of  my  life."  This  sensible  answer  admits  of  extensive 
application  to  the  advancement  of  medicine.  Could  we  eradicate 
fevers  only  from  our  bills  of  mortality,  how  much  more  should 
we  add  to  the  population  and  happiness  of  our  country,  than  by 
discovering  remedies  for  swollen  membrane  and  abnormal  dila- 
tion of  blood  vessels? 

IV.  Let  me  remind  you,  that  improvement  in  medicine  is 
not  to  be  derived,  only  from  colleges  and  universities.  Systems 
of  physic  are  the  productions  of  men  of  genius  and  learning; 
but  those  facts  which  constitute  real  knowledge,  are  to  be  met 
with  in  every  walk  of  life.  Remember  how  many  of  our  most 
useful  remedies  have  been  discovered  by  quacks.  Do  not  be 
afraid,  therefore,  of  conversing  with  them,  and  of  profiting  by 
their  ignorance  and  temerity  in  the  practice  of  physic.  Medicine 
has  its  Pharisees,  as  well  as  religion.  But  the  spirit  of  this  sect 
is  as  unfriendly  to  the  advancement  of  medicine,  as  it  is  to  Chris- 
tian charity.  By  conversing  with  quacks,  we  may  convey  in- 
struction to  them,  and  thereby  lessen  the  mischief  they  might 
otherwise  do  to  society.  But  further.  In  the  pursuit  of  medical 
knowledge,  let  me  advise  you  to  converse  with  nurses  and  old 
women.  They  will  often  suggest  facts  in  the  history  and  cure 
of  diseases  which  have  escaped  the  most  sagacious,  observers  of 
nature.  Even  Negroes  and  Indians  have  sometimes  stumbled  upon 
discoveries  in  medicine.  Be  not  ashamed  to  inquire  into  them. 
There  is  yet  one  more  means  of  information  in  medicine  which 
should  not  be  neglected,  and  that  is,  to  converse  with  persons 
who  have  recovered  from  indispositions  without  the  aid  of 
physicians.  Examine  the  strength  and  exertions  of  nature  in 
these  cases,  and  mark  the  plain  and  home-made  remedy  to  which 
they  ascribe  their  recovery.  I  have  found  this  to  be  a  fruitful 


320       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

« 

source  of  instruction,  and  have  been  led  to  conclude,  that  if 
every  man  in  a  city,  or  a  district,  could  be  called  upon  to  relate 
to  persons  appointed  to  receive  and  publish  his  narrative,  an 
exact  account  of  the  effects  of  those  remedies  which  accident 
or  whim  has  suggested  to  him,  it  would  furnish  a  very  useful 
book  in  medicine.  To  preserve  the  facts  thus  obtained,  let  me 
advise  you  to  record  them  in  a  book  to  be  kept  for  that  purpose. 
There  is  one  more  advantage  that  will  probably  attend  the  in- 
quiries that  have  been  mentioned;  you  may  discover  diseases,  or 
symptoms  of  diseases,  or  even  laws  of  the  animal  economy,  which 
have  no  place  in  our  systems  of  nosology,  or  in  our  theories  of 
physic. 

V.  In  dangerous  cases  that  are  plain  and  cotmnon,  let  me 
caution  you  against  having  recourse  to  consultations.  They  relax 
exertion,  suspend  enterprise,  and  lessen  responsibility  in  a  physi- 
cian. They  moreover  add,  unnecessarily,  to  the  expenses  of  a 
patient.  But  in  difficult  and  obscure  cases  let  me  advise  you  to 
anticipate  the  fears  of  your  patients,  by  requesting  assistance. 
Such  candor  begets  subsequent  confidence  and  business,  for  truth 
is  the  universal  interest  of  mankind.  There  are  few  instances  in 
which  any  solid  advantages  have  been  derived  from  more  than 
two  physicians  consulting  together.  Where  a  greater  number 
are  employed,  the  prescriptions  are  generally  the  result  of  neu- 
tralized opinions,  and  are  of  course  often  unsuccessful.  The 
epitaph  of  Pliny,  viz.  "Se  turba  medicorum  peruisse,"  might  be 
inscribed  upon  the  tombstones  of  many  persons,  whose  sick  beds 
had  been  sunounded  by  a  crowd  of  physicians. 

VI.  Let  me  recommend  to  your  particular  attention,  the 
indigenous  medicines  of  our  country.  Cultivate  or  prepare  as 
many  of  them  as  possible,  and  endeavour  to  enlarge  the  materia 
medica,  by  exploring  the  untrodden  fields  and  forests  of  the 
United  States.  The  ipecacuana,  the  Seneca  and  Virginia  snake 
roots,  the  Carolina  pink-root,  the  spice-wood,  the  sassafras,  the 
butter-nut,  the  thoroughwort,  the  poke,  and  the  strammonium, 
are  but  a  small  part  of  the  medicinal  productions  of  America. 
I  have  no  doubt  but  there  are  many  hundred  other  plants  which 


ON  NATURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SCIENCES          321 

now  exhale  invaluable  medicinal  virtues  in  the  desert  air.  Ex- 
amine, likewise,  the  mineral  waters,  which  are  so  various  in  their 
impregnation,  and  so  common  in  all  parts  of  our  country.  Let 
not  the  properties  of  the  insects  of  America  escape  your  inves- 
tigation. We  have  already  discovered  among  some  of  them,  a 
fly  equal  in  its  blistering  qualities  to  the  famous  fly  of  Spain. 
Who  knows  but  it  may  be  reserved  for  America  to  furnish  the 
world,  from  her  productions,  with  cures  for  some  of  those  dis- 
eases which  now  elude  the  power  of  medicine?  Who  knows  but 
what,  at  the  foot  of  the  Alleghany  mountain  there  blooms  a 
flower  that  is  an  infallible  cure  for  the  epilepsy?  Perhaps  on  the 
Monongahela,  or  the  Potomac,  there  may  grow  a  root  that  shall 
supply,  by  its  tonic  powers,  the  invigorating  effects  of  the  savage 
or  military  life  in  the  cure  of  consumptions.  Human  misery 
of  every  kind  is  evidently  on  the  decline.  Happiness,  like  truth, 
is  a  unit.  While  the  world,  from  the  progress  of  intellectual, 
moral  and  political  truth,  is  becoming  a  more  safe  and  agreeable 
abode  for  man,  the  votaries  of  medicine  should  not  be  idle.  All 
the  doors  and  windows  of  the  temple  of  nature  have  been 
thrown  open  by  the  convulsions  of  the  late  American  Revolu- 
tion. This  is  the  time,  therefore,  to  press  upon  her  altars.  We  have 
already  drawn  from  them  discoveries  in  morals,  philosophy,  and 
government,  all  of  which  have  human  happiness  for  their  object. 
Let  us  preserve  the  unity  of  truth  and  happiness,  by  drawing 
from  the  same  source,  in  the  present  critical  moment,  a  knowl- 
edge of  antidotes  to  those  diseases  which  are  supposed  to  be 
incurable. 


ON   MISCELLANEOUS   THINGS 


INFLUENCE     OF     THE     AMERICAN 
REVOLUTION 


October  i,  1788. 

THERE  WERE  several  circumstances  peculiar  to  the  American 
Revolution,  which  should  be  mentioned  previously  to  an  account 
of  the  influence  of  the  events  which  accompanied  it,  upon  the 
human  body. 

1.  The  revolution  interested  every  inhabitant  of  the  coun- 
try of  both  sexes,  and  of  every  rank  and  age  that  was  capable 
of  reflection.  An  indifferent,  or  neutral  spectator  of  the  contro- 
versy, was  scarcely  to  be  found  in  any  of  the  states. 

2.  The  scenes  of  war  and  government  which  it  introduced, 
were  new  to  the  greatest  part  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  United 
States,  and  operated  with  all  the  force  of  novelty  upon  the 
human  mind. 

3.  The  controversy  was  conceived  to  be  the  most  important 
of  any  that  had  ever  engaged  the  attention  of  mankind.  It  was 
generally  believed  by  the  friends  of  the  Revolution,  that  the  very 
existence  of  freedom  upon  our  globe,  was  involved  in  the  issue 
of  the  contest  in  favor  of  the  United  States. 

4.  The  American  Revolution  included  in  it  the  cares  of  gov- 
ernment, as  well  as  the  toils  and  dangers  of  war.  The  American 
mind  was,  therefore,  frequently  occupied  at  the  same  time,  by 
the  difficult  and  complicated  duties  of  political  and  military  life. 

5.  The  revolution  was  conducted  by  men  who  had  been  born 
free,  and  whose  sense  of  the  blessings  of  liberty  was  of  course 

3*5 


326       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

more  exquisite  than  if  they  had  just  emerged  from  a  state  of 
slavery. 

6.  The  greatest  part  of  the  soldiers  in  the  armies  of  the 
United  States  had  family  connections  and  property  in   the 
country. 

7.  The  war  was  carried  on  by  the  Americans  against  a  nation, 
to  whom  they  had  long  been  tied  by  the  numerous  obligations  of 
consanguinity,  laws,  religion,  commerce,  language,  interest,  and 
a  mutual  sense  of  national  glory.  The  resentments  of  the  Ameri- 
cans of  course  rose,  as  is  usual  in  all  disputes,  in  proportion  to 
the  number  and  force  of  these  ancient  bonds  of  affection  and 
union. 

8.  A  predilection  to  a  limited  monarchy,  as  an  essential  part 
of  a  free  and  safe  government,  and  an  attachment  to  the  reigning 
king  of  Great  Britain,  (with  a  very  few  exceptions)  were  uni- 
versal in  every  part  of  the  United  States. 

9.  There  was  at  one  time  a  sudden  dissolution  of  civil  gov- 
ernment in  all,  and  of  ecclesiastical  establishments  in  several  of 
the  states. 

10.  The  expences  of  the  war  were  supported  by  means  of  a 
paper  currency,  which  was  continually  depreciating. 

From  the  action  of  each  of  these  causes,  and  frequently  from 
their  combination  in  the  same  persons,  effects  might  reasonably 
be  expected,  both  upon  the  mind  and  body,  which  have  seldom 
occurred;  or  if  they  have,  I  believe  were  never  fully  recorded 
in  any  age  or  country. 

It  might  afford  some  useful  instruction,  to  point  out  the  in- 
fluence of  the  military  and  political  events  of  the  revolution 
upon  the  understandings,  passions,  and  morals  of  the  citizens  of 
the  United  States;  but  my  business  in  the  present  inquiry,  is  only 
to  take  notice  of  the  influence  of  these  events  upon  the  human 
body,  through  the  medium  of  the  mind. 

I  shall  first  mention  the  effects  of  the  military,  and  secondly, 
of  the  political  events  of  the  revolution.  The  last  must  be  con- 
sidered in  a  two-fold  view,  accordingly  as  they  affected  the 
friends  or  the  enemies  of  the  revolution. 


ON  MISCELLANEOUS  THINGS  327 

I.  In  treating  of  the  effects  of  the  military  events,  I  shall 
take  notice,  first,  of  the  influence  of  actwl  war,  and,  secondly, 
of  the  influence  of  the  military  life. 

In  the  beginning  of  a  battle,  I  have  observed  thirst  to  be  a 
very  common  sensation  among  both  officers  and  soldiers.  It 
occurred  where  no  exercise,  or  action  of  the  body,  could  have 
excited  it. 

Many  officers  have  informed  me,  that  after  the  first  onset 
in  a  battle,  they  felt  a  glow  of  heat,  so  universal  as  to  be  per- 
ceptible in  both  their  ears.  This  was  the  case  in  a  particular 
manner,  in  the  battle  of  Princeton,  on  the  third  of  January  in 
the  year  1777,  on  which  day  the  weather  was  remarkable  cold. 

A  veteran  colonel  of  a  New  England  regiment,  whom  I  vis- 
ited at  Princeton,  and  who  was  wounded  in  the  hand  at  the 
battle  of  Monmouth,  on  the  28th  of  June,  1778,  (a  day  in  which 
the  mercury  stood  at  90°  of  Fahrenheit's  thermometer)  after  de- 
scribing his  situation  at  the  time  he  received  his  wound,  con- 
cluded his  story  by  remarking,  that  "fighting  was  hot  work  on  a 
cold  day,  but  much  more  so  on  a  warm  day."  The  many  in- 
stances which  appeared  after  that  memorable  battle,  of  soldiers 
who  were  found  among  the  slain  without  any  marks  of  wounds 
or  violence  upon  their  bodies,  were  probably  occasioned  by  the 
heat  excited  in  the  body  by  the  emotions  of  the  mind,  being 
added  to  that  of  the  atmosphere. 

Soldiers  bore  operations  of  every  kind  immediately  after 
a  battle,  with  much  more  fortitude  than  they  did  at  any  time 
afterwards. 

The  effects  of  the  military  life  upon  the  human  body  come 
next  to  be  considered  under  this  head. 

In  another  place  I  have  mentioned  three  cases  of  pulmonary 
consumption  being  perfectly  cured  by  the  diet  and  hardships  of 
a  camp  life. 

Doctor  Blane,  in  his  valuable  observations  on  the  diseases 
incident  to  seamen,  ascribes  the  extraordinary  healthiness  of  the 
British  fleet  in  the  month  of  April  1782,  to  the  effects  produced 
on  the  spirit  of  the  soldiers  and  seamen,  by  the  victory  obtained 


328       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

over  the  French  fleet  on  the  mh  of  that  month;  and  relates, 
upon  the  authority  of  Mr.  Ives,  an  instance  in  the  war  between 
Great  Britain  and  the  combined  powers  of  France  and  Spain 
in  1744,  in  which  the  scurvy,  as  well  as  other  diseases,  were 
checked  by  the  prospect  of  a  naval  engagement. 

The  American  army  furnished  an  instance  of  the  effects  of 
victory  upon  the  human  mind,  which  may  serve  to  establish 
the  inferences  from  the  facts  related  by  Doctor  Blane.  The 
Philadelphia  militia  who  joined  the  remains  of  General  Wash- 
ington's army,  in  December  1776,  and  shared  with  them  a  few 
days  afterwards  in  the  capture  of  a  large  body  of  Hessians  at 
Trenton,  consisted  of  1500  men,  most  of  whom  had  been  accus- 
tomed to  the  habits  of  a  city  life.  These  men  slept  in  tents  and 
barns,  and  sometimes  in  the  open  air  during  the"  usual  colds  of 
December  and  January;  and  yet  there  were  only  two  instances 
of  sickness,  and  only  one  of  death,  in  that  body  of  men  in  the 
course  of  nearly  six  weeks,  in  those  winter  months.  This  extraor- 
dinary healthiness  of  so  great  a  number  of  men  under  such  trying 
circumstances,  can  only  be  ascribed  to  the  vigour  infused  into 
the  human  body  by  the  victory  of  Trenton  having  produced 
insensibility  to  all  the  usual  remote  causes  of  diseases. 

Militia  officers  and  soldiers,  who  enjoyed  good  health  during 
a  campaign,  were  often  affected  by  fevers  and  other  disorders, 
as  soon  as  they  returned  to  their  respective  homes.  I  knew  one 
instance  of  a  militia  captain,  who  was  seized  with  convulsions 
the  first  night  he  lay  on  a  feather  bed,  after  sleeping  several 
months  on  a  mattress,  or  upon  the  ground.  These  affections 
of  the  body  appeared  to  be  produced  only  by  the  sudden  abstrac- 
tion of  that  tone  in  the  system  which  was  excited  by  a  sense 
of  danger,  and  the  other  invigorating  objects  of  a  military 
life. 

The  NOSTALGIA  of  Doctor  Cullen,  or  the  home-sickness,  was 
a  frequent  disease  in  the  American  army,  more  especially  among 
the  soldiers  of  the  New  England  states/  But  this  disease  was 
suspended  by  the  superior  action  of  the  mind  under  the  influ- 
ence of  the  principles  which  governed  common  soldiers  in  the 


ON  MISCELLANEOUS  THINGS  329 

American  army.  Of  this  General  Gates  furnished  me  with  a 
remarkable  instance  in  1776,  soon  after  his  return  from  the 
command  of  a  large  body  of  regular  troops  and  militia  at 
Ticonderoga.  From  the  effects  of  the  nostalgia,  and  the  feeble- 
ness of  the  discipline,  which  was  exercised  over  the  militia, 
desertions  were  very  frequent  and  numerous  in  his  army,  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  campaign;  and  yet  during  the  three  weeks  in 
which  the  general  expected  every  hour  an  attack  to  be  made 
upon  him  by  General  Burgoyne,  there  was  not  a  single  desertion 
from  his  army,  which  consisted  at  that  time  of  10,000  men. 

The  patience,  firmness,  and  magnanimity  with  which  the 
officers  and  soldiers  of  the  American  army  endured  the  com- 
plicated evils  of  hunger,  cold,  and  nakedness,  can  only  be 
ascribed  to  an  insensibility  of  body  produced  by  an  uncom- 
mon tone  of  mind  excited  by  the  love  of  liberty  and  their 
country. 

Before  I  proceed  to  the  second  general  division  of  this  sub- 
ject, I  shall  take  notice,  that  more  instances  of  apoplexies  oc- 
curred in  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  in  the  winter  of  1774-5,  than 
had  been  known  in  former  years.  I  should  have  hesitated  in 
recording  this  fact,  had  I  not  found  the  observation  supported 
by  a  fact  of  the  same  kind,  and  produced  by  a  nearly  similar 
cause,  in  the  appendix  to  the  practical  works  of  Doctor  Baglivi, 
professor  of  physic  and  anatomy  at  Rome.  After  a  very  wet 
season  in  the  winter  of  1694—5,  he  informs  us,  that  "apoplexies 
displayed  their  rage;  and  perhaps  (adds  our  author)  that  some 
part  of  this  epidemic  illness  was  owing  to  the  universal  grief 
and  domestic  care,  occasioned  by  all  Europe  being  engaged 
in  a  war.  All  commerce  was  disturbed,  and  all  the  avenues  of 
peace  blocked  up,  so  that  the  strongest  heart  could  scarcely  bear 
the  thoughts  of  it."  The  winter  of  1774-5,  was  a  period  of 
uncommon  anxiety  among  the  citizens  of  America.  Every  coun- 
tenance wore  the  marks  of  painful  solicitude,  for  the  event  of  a 
petition  to  the  throne  of  Britain,  which  was  to  determine  whether 
reconciliation,  or  a  civil  war,  with  all  its  terrible  and  distressing 
consequences,  were  to  take  place.  The  apoplectic  fit,  which  de- 


SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

prived  the  world  of  the  talents  and  virtues  of  Peyton  Randolph, 
while  he  filled  the  chair  of  Congress  in  1775,  appeared  to  be 
occasioned  in  part  by  the  pressure  of  the  uncertainty  of  those 
great  events  upon  his  mind.  To  the  name  of  this  illustrious 
patriot,  several  others  might  be  added,  who  were  affected  by 
the  apoplexy  in  the  same  memorable  year.  At  this  time  a  differ- 
ence of  opinion  upon  the  subject  of  the  contest  with  Great 
Britain,  had  scarcely  taken  place  among  the  citizens  of 
America. 

II.  The  political  events  of  the  revolution  produced  different 
effects  upon  the  human  body,  through  the  medium  of  the  mind, 
accordingly  as  they  acted  upon  the  friends  or  enemies  of  the 
revolution. 

I  shall  first  describe  its  effects  upon  the  former  class  of  citi- 
zens of  the  United  States. 

Many  persons  of  infirm  and  delicate  habits,  were  restored 
to  perfect  health,  by  the  change  of  place,  or  occupation,  to  which 
the  war  exposed  them.  This  was  the  case  in  a  more  especial 
manner  with  hysterical  women,  who  were  much  interested  in 
the  successful  issue  of  the  contest.  The  same  effects  of  a  civil 
war  upon  the  hysteria,  were  observed  by  Doctor  Cullen  in  Scot- 
land, in  the  years  1745  and  1746.  It  may  perhaps  help  to  extend 
our  ideas  of  the  influence  of  the  passions  upon  diseases,  to  add, 
that  when  either  love,  jealousy,  grief,  or  even  devotion,  wholly 
engross  the  female  mind,  they  seldom  fail,  in  like  manner,  to 
cure  or  to  suspend  hysterical  complaints. 

An  uncommon  cheerfulness  prevailed  everywhere,  among 
the  friends  of  the  Revolution.  Defeats,  and  even  the  loss  of  re- 
lations and  property,  were  soon  forgotten  in  the  great  objects 
of  the  war. 

The  population  in  the  United  States  was  more  rapid  from 
births  during  the  war,  than  it  had  ever  been  in  the  same  num- 
ber of  years  since  the  settlement  of  the  country. 

I  am  disposed  to  ascribe  this  increase  of  births  chiefly  to  the 
quantity  and  extensive  circulation  of  money,  and  to  the  facility 
of  procuring  the  means  of  subsistence  during  the  war,  which 


ON  MISCELLANEOUS  THINGS  331 

favored  marriages  among  the  laboring  part  of  the  people.*  But 
I  have  sufficient  documents  to  prove,  that  marriages  were  more 
fruitful  than  in  former  years,  and  that  a  considerable  number  of 
unfruitful  marriages  became  fruitful  during  the  war.  In  1783, 
the  year  of  the  peace,  there  were  several  children  born  of  parents 
who  had  lived  many  years  together  without  issue. 

Mr.  Hume  informs  us,  in  his  History  of  England,  that  some 
old  people  upon  hearing  the  news  of  the  restoration  of  Charles 
the  II.  died  suddenly  of  joy.  There  was  a  time  when  I  doubted 
the  truth  of  this  assertion;  but  I  am  now  disposed  to  believe  it, 
from  having  heard  of  a  similar  effect  from  an  agreeable  political 
event,  in  the  course  of  the  American  Revolution.  The  door- 
keeper of  Congress,  an  aged  man,  died  suddenly,  immediately 
after  hearing  of  the  capture  of  Lord  Cornwallis's  army.  His  death 
was  universally  ascribed  to  a  violent  emotion  of  political  joy. 
This  species  of  joy  appears  to  be  one  of  the  strongest  emotions 
that  can  agitate  the  human  mind. 

Perhaps  the  influence  of  that  ardor  in  trade  and  speculation, 
which  seized  many  of  the  friends  of  the  Revolution,  and  which 
was  excited  by  the  fallacious  nominal  amount  of  the  paper 
money,  should  rather  be  considered  as  a  disease  than  as  a  passion. 
It  unhinged  the  judgment,  deposed  the  moral  faculty,  and  filled 
the  imagination,  in  many  people,  with  airy  and  impracticable 
schemes  of  wealth  and  grandeur.  Desultory  manners,  and  a 
peculiar  species  of  extempore  conduct,  were  among  its  charac- 
teristic symptoms.  It  produced  insensibility  to  cold,  hunger,  and 
danger.  The  trading  towns,  and  in  some  instances  the  extremities 
of  the  United  States,  were  frequently  visited  in  a  few  hours  or 
days  by  persons  affected  by  this  disease;  and  hence  "to  travel 
with  the  speed  of  a  speculator,"  became  a  common  saying  in 
many  parts  of  the  country.  This  species  of  insanity  (if  I  may 

*  Wheat  which  was  sold  before  the  war  for  seven  shillings  and  six- 
pence, was  sold  for  several  years  during  the  war  for  four,  and  in  some 
places  for  two  and  sixpence  Pennsylvania  currency  per  bushel.  Beggars 
of  every  description  disappeared  in  the  year  1776,  and  were  seldom  seen 
till  near  the  close  of  the  war. 


332       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

be  allowed  to  call  it  by  that  name)  did  not  require  the  con- 
finement of  a  bedlam  to  cure  it,  like  the  South  Sea  madness  de- 
scribed by  Doctor  Mead.  Its  remedies  were  the  depreciation 
of  the  paper  money,  and  the  events  of  the  peace. 

The  political  events  of  the  Revolution  produced  upon  its 
enemies  very  different  effects  from  those  which  have  been  men- 
tioned. 

The  hypochondriasis  of  Doctor  Cullen,  occurred  in  many 
instances  in  persons  of  this  description.  In  some  of  them,  the 
terror  and  distress  of  the  Revolution  brought  on  a  true  melan- 
cholia.* The  causes  which  produced  these  diseases,  may  be  re- 
duced to  four  heads,  i.  The  loss  of  former  power  or  influence 
in  government.  2.  The  destruction  of  the  hierarchy  of  the  Eng- 
lish Church  in  America.  3.  The  change  in  the  habits  of  diet,  and 
company  and  manners,  produced  by  the  annihilation  of  just 
debts  by  means  of  depreciated  paper  money.  And,  4.  The  neg- 
lect, insults,  and  oppression,  to  which  the  Loyalists  were  exposed, 
from  individuals,  and  in  several  instances,  from  the  laws  of  some 
of  the  states. 

It  was  observed  in  South  Carolina,  that  several  gentlemen 
who  had  protected  their  estates  by  swearing  allegiance  to  the 
British  government,  died  soon  after  the  evacuation  of  Charles- 
ton by  the  British  army.  Their  deaths  were  ascribed  to  the  neg- 
lect with  which  they  were  treated  by  their  ancient  friends,  who 
had  adhered  to  the  government  of  the  United  States.  The  disease 
was  called,  by  the  common  people,  the  Protection  fever. 

From  the  causes  which  produced  this  hypochondriasis,  I  have 
taken  the  liberty  of  distinguishing  it  by  the  specific  name  of 
Revolutiaw. 

In  some  cases,  this  disease  was  rendered  fatal  by  exile  and 
confinement;  and,  in  others,  by  those  persons  who  were  afflicted 
with  it,  seeking  relief  from  spirituous  liquors. 

The  termination  of  the  war  by  the  peace  in  1783,  did  not 
terminate  the  American  Revolution.  The  minds  of  the  citizens 

*  Insania  partialis  sine  dyspepsia,  of  Doctor  Cullen, 


ON  MISCELLANEOUS  THINGS  333 

of  the  United  States  were  wholly  unprepared  for  their  new  situ- 
ation. The  excess  of  the  passion  for  liberty,  inflamed  by  the 
successful  issue  of  the  war,  produced,  in  many  people,  opinions 
and  conduct  which  could  not  be  removed  by  reason  nor  re- 
strained by  government.  For  a  while,  they  threatened  to  render 
abortive  the  goodness  of  heaven  to  the  United  States,  in  de- 
livering them  from  the  evils  of  slavery  and  war.  The  extensive 
influence  which  these  opinions  had  upon  the  understandings, 
passions  and  morals  of  many  of  the  citizens  of  the  United  States, 
constituted  a  species  of  insanity,  which  I  shall  take  the  liberty 
of  distinguishing  by  the  name  of  Anarchia. 

I  hope  no  offence  will  be  given  by  the  freedom  of  any  of 
these  remarks.  An  inquirer  after  philosophical  truth,  should  con- 
sider the  passions  of  men  in  the  same  light  that  he  does  the  laws 
of  matter  or  motion.  The  friends  and  enemies  of  the  American 
Revolution  must  have  been  more  or  less  than  men,  if  they  could 
have  sustained  the  magnitude  and  rapidity  of  the  events  that 
characterised  it,  without  discovering  some  marks  of  human  weak- 
ness, both  in  body  and  mind.  Perhaps  these  weaknesses  were 
permitted,  that  human  nature  might  receive  fresh  honours  in 
America,  by  the  contending  parties  (whether  produced  by  the 
controversies  about  independence  or  the  national  government) 
mutually  forgiving  each  other,  and  uniting  in  plans  of  general 
order,  and  happiness. 


THE     EFFECTS     OF     ARDENT 
SPIRITS     UPON     MAN 


BY  ARDENT  spirits,  I  mean  those  liquors  only  which  are  obtained 
by  distillation  from  fermented  substances  of  any  kind.  To  their 
effects  upon  the  bodies  and  minds  of  men,  the  following  inquiry 
shall  be  exclusively  confined.  Fermented  liquors  contain  so  little 
spirit,  and  that  so  intimately  combined  with  other  matters,  that 
they  can  seldom  be  drunken  in  sufficient  quantities  to  produce 
intoxication  and  its  subsequent  effects  without  exciting  a  dis- 
relish to  their  taste,  or  pain,  from  their  distending  the  stomach. 
They  are,  moreover,  when  taken  in  a  moderate  quantity,  gen- 
erally innocent,  and  often  have  a  friendly  influence  upon  health 
and  life. 

The  effects  of  ardent  spirits  divide  themselves  into  such  as  are 
of  a  prompt,  and  such  as  are  of  a  chronic  nature.  The  former 
discover  themselves  in  drunkenness;  and  the  latter,  in  a  numerous 
train  of  diseases  and  vices  of  the  body  and  mind. 

I.  I  shall  begin  by  briefly  describing  their  prompt  or  imme- 
diate effects,  in  a  fit  of  drunkenness. 

This  odious  disease  (for  by  that  name  it  should  be  called) 
appears  with  more  or  less  of  the  following  symptoms,  and  most 
commonly  in  the  order  in  which  I  shall  enumerate  them. 

1.  Unusual  garrulity. 

2.  Unusual  silence. 

3.  Capriousness,  and  a  disposition  to  quarrel. 

4.  Uncommon  good  humor,  and  an  insipid  simpering,  or 
laugh. 

5.  Profane  swearing  and  cursing. 

334 


ON  MISCELLANEOUS  THINGS  335 

6.  A  disclosure  of  their  own  or  other  people's  secrets. 

7.  A  rude  disposition  to  tell  those  persons  in  company,  whom 
they  know,  their  faults. 

8.  Certain  immodest  actions.  I  am  sorry  to  say  this  sign  of 
the  first  stage  of  drunkenness  sometimes  appears  in  women, 
whor  when  sober  are  uniformly  remarkable  for  chaste  and  decent 
manners. 

9.  A  clipping  of  words. 

10.  Fighting;  a  black  eye,  or  a  swelled  nose,  often  mark  this 
grade  of  drunkenness. 

1 1 .  Certain  extravagant  acts  which  indicate  a  temporary  fit 
of  madness.  These  are  singing,  hallooing,  roaring,  imitating  the 
noises  of  brute  animals,  jumping,  tearing  off  clothes,  dancing 
naked,  breaking  glasses  and  china,  and  dashing  other  articles  of 
household  furniture  upon  the  ground  or  floor.  After  a  while  the 
paroxysm  of  drunkenness  is  completely  formed.  The  face  now 
becomes  flushed,  the  eyes  project,  and  are  somewhat  watery, 
winking  is  less  frequent  than  is  natural;  the  under  lip  is  pro- 
truded— the  head  inclines  a  little  to  one  shoulder — the  jaw  falls — 
belchings  and  hickup  take  place — the  limbs  totter — the  whole 
body  staggers.  The  unfortunate  subject  of  this  history  next  falls 
on  his  seat — he  looks  around  him  with  a  vacant  countenance, 
and  mutters  inarticulate  sounds  to  himself — he  attempts  to  rise 
and  walk:  in  this  attempt  he  falls  upon  his  side,  from  which  he 
gradually  turns  upon  his  back:  he  now  closes  his  eyes  and  falls 
into  a  profound  sleep,  frequently  attended  with  snoring,  and 
profuse  sweats,  and  sometimes  with  such  a  relaxation  of  the 
muscles  which  confine  the  bladder  and  the  lower  bowels,  as  to 
produce  a  symptom  which  delicacy  forbids  me  to  mention.  In 
this  condition  he  often  lies  from  ten,  twelve,  and  twenty-four 
hours,  to  two,  three,  four,  and  five  days,  an  object  of  pity  and 
disgust  to  his  family  and  friends.  His  recovery  from  this  fit  of 
intoxication  is  marked  with  several  peculiar  appearances.  He 
opens  his  eyes  and  closes  them  again — he  gapes  and  stretches  his 
limbs — he  then  coughs  and  pukes — his  voice  is  hoarse — he  rises 
with  difficulty,  .and  staggers  to  a  chair — his  eyes  resemble  balls 


336       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

of  fire — his  hands  tremble — he  loathes  the  sight  of  food — he  calls 
for  a  glass  of  spirits  to  compose  his  stomach — now  and  then  he 
emits  a  deep-fetched  sigh,  or  groan,  from  a  transient  twinge  of 
conscience;  but  he  more  frequently  scolds,  and  curses  every 
thing  around  him.  In  this  state  of  languor  and  stupidity  he  re- 
mains for  two  or  three  days  before  he  is  able  to  resume  his 
former  habits  of  business  and  conversation. 

Pythagoras,  we  are  told,  maintained  that  the  souls  of  men 
after  death  expiated  the  crimes  committed  by  them  in  this  world 
by  animating  certain  brute  animals;  and  that  the  souls  of  those 
animals,  in  their  turns,  entered  into  men,  and  carried  with  them 
all  their  peculiar  qualities  and  vices.  This  doctrine  of  one  of  the 
wisest  and  best  of  the  Greek  philosophers,  was  probably  in- 
tended only  to  convey  a  lively  idea  of  the  changes  which  are 
induced  in  the  body  and  mind  of  man  by  a  fit  of  drunkenness. 
In  folly,  it  causes  him  to  resemble  a  calf — in  stupidity,  an  ass — 
in  roaring,  a  mad  bull — in  quarrelling  and  fighting,  a  dog — in 
cruelty,  a  tiger — in  fetor,  a  skunk — in  filthiness,  a  hog — and  in 
obscenity,  a  he-goat. 

It  belongs  to  the  history  of  drunkenness  to  remark,  that  its 
paroxysms  occur,  like  the  paroxysms  of  many  diseases,  at  certain 
periods,  and  after  longer  or  shorter  intervals.  They  often  begin 
with  annual,  and  gradually  increase  in  their  frequency,  until 
they  appear  in  quarterly,  monthly,  weekly,  and  quotidian,  or 
daily  periods.  Finally  they  afford  scarcely  any  marks  of  remis- 
sion either  during  the  day  or  the  night.  There  was  a  citizen  of 
Philadelphia,  many  years  ago,  in  whom  drunkenness  appeared 
in  this  protracted  form.  In  speaking  of  him  to  one  of  his  neigh- 
bors, I  said,  "Does  he  not  sometimes  get  drunk?"  "You  mean," 
said  his  neighbor,  "is  he  not  sometimes  sober?" 

It  is  further  remarkable,  that  drunkenness  resembles  certain 
hereditary,  family,  and  contagious  diseases.  I  have  once  known 
it  to  descend  from  a  father  to  four  out  of  five  of  his  children.  I 
have  seen  three,  and  once  four  brothers,  who  were  born  of  sober 
ancestors,  affected  by  it;  and  I  have  heard  of  its  spreading 
through  a  whole  family  composed  of  members  not  originally 


ON  MISCELLANEOUS  THINGS  337 

related  to  each  other.  These  facts  are  important,  and  should  not 
be  overlooked  by  parents,  in  deciding  upon  the  matrimonial 
connexions  of  their  children. 

II.  Let  us  next  attend  to  the  chronic  effects  of  ardent  spirits 
upon  the  body  and  mind.  In  the  body  they  dispose  to  every  form 
of  acute  disease;  they  moreover  excite  fevers  in  persons  pre- 
disposed to  them  from  other  causes.  This  has  been  remarked 
in  all  the  yellow  fevers  which  have  visited  the  cities  of  the  United 
States.  Hard  drinkers  seldom  escape,  and  rarely  recover  from 
them.  The  following  diseases  are  the  usual  consequences  of  the 
habitual  use  of  ardent  spirits,  viz. 

1.  A  decay  of  appetite,  sickness  at  stomach,  and  a  puking 
of  bile,  or  a  discharge  of  a  frothy  and  viscid  phlegm,  by  hawk- 
ing, in  the  morning.  r 

2.  Obstructions  of  the  liver.  The  fable  of  Prometheus,  on 
whose  liver  a  vulture  was  said  to  prey  constantly  as  a  punish- 
ment for  his  stealing  fire  from  heaven,  was  intended  to  illustrate 
the  painful  effects  of  ardent  spirits  upon  that  organ  of  the  body. 

3.  Jaundice,  and  dropsy  of  the  belly  and  limbs,  and  finally 
of  every  cavity  in  the  body.  A  swelling  in  the  feet  and  legs  is 
so  characteristic  a  mark  of  habits  of  intemperance,  that  the 
merchants  in  Charleston,  I  have  been  told,  cease  to  trust  the 
planters  of  South  Carolina  as  soon  as  they  perceive  it.  They 
very  naturally  conclude  industry  and  virtue  to  be  extinct  in 
that  man,  in  whom  that  symptom  of  disease  has  been  produced 
by  the  intemperate  use  of  distilled  spirits. 

4.  Hoarseness,  and  a  husky  cough,  which  often  terminate 
in  consumption,  and  sometimes  in  an  acute  and  fatal  disease  of 
the  lungs. 

5.  Diabetes,  that  is,  a  frequent  and  weakening  discharge  of 
pale  or  sweetish  urine. 

6.  Redness,  and  eruptions  on  different  parts  of  the  body. 
They  generally  begin  on  the  nose,  and  after  gradually  extending 
all  over  the  face,  sometimes  descend  to  the  limbs  in  the  form 
of  leprosy.  They  have  been  called  "Rum  buds,"  when  they 
appear  in  the  face.  In  persons  who  have  occasionally  survived 


338       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

these  effects  of  ardent  spirits  on  the  skin,  the  face  after  a  while 
becomes  bloated,  and  its  redness  is  succeeded  by  a  death-like 
paleness.  Thus,  the  same  fire  which  produces  a  red  color  in  iron, 
when  urged  to  a  more  intense  degree,  produces  what  has  been 
called  a  white  heat. 

7.  A  fetid  breath,  composed  of  every  thing  that  is  offensive 
in  putrid  animal  matter. 

8.  Frequent  and  disgusting  belchings. 

9.  Epilepsy. 

10.  Gout,  in  all  its  various  forms  of  swelled  limbs,  colic, 
palsy,  and  apoplexy. 

1 1 .  Lastly,  madness.  The  late  Dr.  Waters,  while  he  acted 
as  house  pupil  and  apothecary  of  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital, 
assured  me,  that  in  one-third  of  the  patients  confined  by  this 
terrible  disease,  it  had  been  induced  by  ardent  spirits. 

Most  of  the  diseases  which  have  been  enumerated  are  of  a 
mortal  nature.  They  are  more  certainly  induced,  and  terminate 
more  speedily  in  death,  when  spirits  are  taken  in  such  quantities, 
and  at  such  times,  as  to  produce  frequent  intoxication;  but  it 
may  serve  to  remove  an  error  with  which  some  intemperate 
people  console  themselves,  to  remark,  that  ardent  spirits  often 
bring  on  fatal  diseases  without  producing  drunkenness.  I  have 
known  many  persons  destroyed  by  them  who  were  never  com- 
pletely intoxicated  during  the  whole  course  of  their  lives.  The 
solitary  instances  of  longevity  which  are  now  and  then  met  with 
in  hard  drinkers,  no  more  disprove  the  deadly  effects  of  ardent 
spirits  than  the  solitary  instances  of  recoveries  from  apparent 
death  by  drowning,  prove  that  there  is  no  danger  to  life  from 
a  human  body  lying  an  hour  or  two  under  water. 

The  body,  after  its  death,  from  the  use  of  distilled  spirits, 
exhibits,  by  dissection,  certain  appearances  which  are  of  a 
peculiar  nature.  The  fibres  of  the  stomach  and  bowels  are  con- 
tracted— abscesses,  gangrene,  and  scar  tissue  are  found  in  the 
viscera. 

Not  less  destructive  are  the  effects  of  ardent  spirits  upon 
the  human  mind.  They  impair  the  memory,  debilitate  the  un- 


ON  MISCELLANEOUS  THINGS  339 

demanding,  and  pervert  the  moral  faculties.  It  was  probably 
from  observing  these  effects  of  intemperance  in  drinking  upon 
the  mind,  that  a  law  was  formerly  passed  in  Spain  which  ex- 
cluded drunkards  from  being  witnesses  in  a  court  of  justice. 
But  the  demoralizing  effects  of  distilled  spirits  do  not  stop  here. 
They  produce  not  only  falsehood,  but  fraud,  theft,  uncleanliness, 
and  murder.  Like  the  demoniac  mentioned  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, their  name  is  "Legion,"  for  they  convey  into  the  soul 
a  host  of  vices  and  crimes. 

A  more  affecting  spectacle  cannot  be  exhibited  than  a  per- 
son into  whom  this  infernal  spirit,  generated  by  habits  of  in- 
temperance, has  entered:  it  is  more  or  less  affecting,  according 
to  the  station  the  person  fills  in  a  family,  or  in  society,  who  is 
possessed  by  it.  Is  he  a  husband?  How  deep  the  anguish  which 
rends  the  bosom  of  his  wife!  Is  she  a  wife?  Who  can  measure 
the  shame  and  aversion  which  she  excites  in  her  husband?  Is  he 
the  father,  or  is  she  the  mother  of  a  family  of  children?  See  their 
averted  looks  from  their  parent,  and  their  blushing  looks  at  each 
other!  Is  he  a  magistrate?  or  has  he  been  chosen  to  fill  a  high 
and  respectable  station  in  the  councils  of  his  country?  What 
humiliating  fears  of  corruption  in  the  administration  of  the  laws, 
and  of  the  subversion  of  public  order  and  happiness,  appear 
in  the  countenances  of  all  who  see  him!  Is  he  a  minister  of  the 
Gospel?  Here  language  fails  me.  If  angels  weep — it  is  at  such 
a  sight. 

In  pointing  out  the  evils  produced  by  ardent  spirits,  let  us 
not  pass  by  their  effects  upon  the  estates  of  the  persons  who 
are  addicted  to  them.  Are  they  inhabitants  of  cities?  Behold! 
their  houses  stripped  gradually  of  their  furniture,  and  pawned, 
or  sold  by  a  constable,  to  pay  tavern  debts.  See!  their  names 
upon  record  in  the  dockets  of  every  court,  and  whole  pages 
of  newspapers  filled  with  advertisements  of  their  estates  for 
public  sale.  Are  they  inhabitants  of  country  places?  Behold! 
their  houses  with  shattered  windows — their  barns  with  leaky 
roofs — their  gardens  overrun  with  weeds — their  fields  with 
broken  fences — their  hogs  without  yokes — their  sheep  without 


340       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

wool — their  cattle  and  horses  without  fat — and  their  children, 
filthy  and  half  clad,  without  manners,  principles  and  morals. 
This  picture  of  agricultural  wretchedness  is  seldom  of  long 
duration.  The  farms  and  property  thus  neglected  and  depreciated 
are  seized  and  sold  for  the  benefit  of  a  group  of  creditors.  The 
children  that  were  born  with  the  prospect  of  inheriting  them 
are  bound  out  to  service  in  the  neighborhood;  while  their  parents, 
the  unworthy  authors  of  their  misfortunes,  ramble  into  new  and 
distant  settlements,  alternately  fed  on  their  way  by  the  hand 
of  charity,  or  a  little  casual  labor. 

Thus  we  see  poverty  and  misery,  crimes  and  infamy,  diseases 
and  death,  are  all  the  natural  and  usual  consequences  of  the 
intemperate  use  of  ardent  spirits. 

I  have  classed  death  among  the  consequences^  of  hard  drink- 
ing. But  it  is  not  death  from  the  immediate  hand  of  the  Deity, 
nor  from  any  of  the  instruments  of  it  which  were  created  by 
him:  it  is  death  from  suicide.  Yes — thou  poor  degraded  creature 
who  art  daily  lifting  the  poisoned  bowl  to  thy  lips — cease  to 
avoid  the  unhallowed  ground  in  which  the  self-murderer  is  in- 
terred, and  wonder  no  longer  that  the  sun  should  shine,  and 
the- rain  fall,  and  the  grass  look  green  upon  his  grave.  Thou  art 
perpetuating,  gradually,  by  the  use  of  ardent  spirits,  what  he 
has  effected  suddenly  by  opium  or  a  halter.  Considering  how 
many  circumstances  from  surprise,  or  derangement,  may  palliate 
his  guilt,  or  that  (unlike  yours)  it  was  not  preceded  and  accom- 
panied by  any  other  crime,  it  is  probable  his  condemnation  will 
be  less  than  yours  at  the  day  of  judgment. 

I  shall  now  take  notice  of  the  occasions  and  circumstances 
which  are  supposed  to  render  the  use  of  ardent  spirits  necessary, 
and  endeavor  to  show  that  the  arguments  in  favor  of  their  use 
in  such  cases,  are  founded  in  error,  and  that  in  each  of  them 
ardent  spirits,  instead  of  affording  strength  to  the  body,  increase 
the  evils  they  are  intended  to  relieve. 

i .  They  are  said  to  be  necessary  in  very  cold  weather.  This 
is  far  from  being  true,  for  the  temporary  warmth  they  produce 
is  always  succeeded  by  a  greater  disposition  in  the  body  to  be 


ON  MISCELLANEOUS  THINGS  341 

affected  by  cold.  Warm  dresses,  a  plentiful  meal  just  before  ex- 
posure to  the  cold,  and  eating  occasionally  a  little  gingerbread, 
or  any  other  cordial  food,  is  a  much  more  durable  method  of 
preserving  the  heat  of  the  body  in  cold  weather. 

2.  They  are  said  to  be  necessary  in  very  warm  weather. 
Experience  proves  that  they  increase  instead  of  lessening  the 
effects  of  heat  upon  the  body,  and  thereby  dispose  to  diseases 
of  all  kinds.  Even  in  the  warm  climate  of  the  West  Indies, 
Dr.  Bell  asserts  this  to  be  true.  "Rum,"  says  this  author,  "whether 
used  habitually,  moderately,  or  in  excessive  quantities  in  the 
West  Indies,  always  diminishes  the  strength  of  the  body,  and 
renders  men  more  susceptible  of  disease,  and  unfit  for  any  service 
in  which  vigor  or  activity  is  required."  As  well  might  we  throw 
oil  into  a  house,  the  roof  of  which  was  on  fire,  in  order  to 
prevent  the  flames  from  extending  to  its  inside,  as  pour  ardent 
spirits  into  the  stomach  to  lessen  the  effects  of  a  hot  sun  upon 
the  skin. 

3.  Nor  do  ardent  spirits  lessen  the  effects  of  hard  labor  upon 
the  body.  Look  at  the  horse,  with  every  muscle  of  his  body 
swelled  from  morning  till  night  in  the  plough,  or  a  team;  does 
he  make  signs  for  a  draught  of  toddy,  or  a  glass  of  spirits,  to 
enable  him  to  cleave  the  ground,  or  to  climb  a  hill?  No — he 
requires  nothing  but  cool  water  and  substantial  food.  There  is  no 
nourishment  in  ardent  spirits.  The  strength  they  produce  in 
labor  is  of  a  transient  nature,  and  is  always  followed  by  a  sense 
of  weakness  and  fatigue. 


ON     OLD     AGE 


MOST  OF  THE  facts  which  I  shall  deliver  upon  this  subject,  are  the 
result  of  observations  made  during  the  last  five  years,  upon  per- 
sons of  both  sexes,  who  had  passed  the  Both  year  of  their  lives. 
I  intended  to  have  given  a  detail  of  the  names — nmnner  of  life — 
occupations — and  other  circumstances  of  each  of  them;  but,  upon 
a  review  of  my  notes,  I  found  so  great  a  sameness  in  the  history 
of  most  of  them,  that  I  despaired,  by  detailing  them,  of  answer- 
ing the  intention  which  I  have  purposed  in  the  following  essay.  1 
shall,  therefore,  only  deliver  the  facts  and  principles  which  arc 
the  result  of  the  inquiries  and  observations  I  have  made  upon  this 
subject. 

I.  I  shall  mention  the  circumstances  which  favor  the  attain- 
ment of  longevity. 

II.  I  shall  mention  the  phenomena  of  body  and  mind  which 
attend  it:  and, 

III.  I  shall  enumerate  its  peculiar  diseases,  and  the  remedies 
which  arc  most  proper  to  remove,  or  moderate  them. 

I.  The  circumstances  which  favor  longevity,  are, 
i.  Dcscem  from  long-lived  Ancestors.  I  have  not  found  a 
single  instance  of  a  person,  who  has  lived  to  be  80  years  old, 
in  whom  this  was  not  the  case.  In  some  instances  I  found  the 
descent  was  only  from  one,  but  in  general,  it  was  from  both 
parents.  The  knowledge  of  this  fact  may  serve,  not  only  to  assist 
in  calculating  what  are  called  the  chances  of  lives,  but  it  may  be 
made  useful  to  a  physician.  He  may  learn  from  it  to  cherish 

34* 


ON  MISCELLANEOUS  THINGS  343 

hopes  of  his  patients  in  chronic,  and  in  some  acute  diseases,  in 
proportion  to  the  capacity  of  life  they  have  derived  from  their 
ancestors.* 

2.  Temperance  in  Eating  and  Drinking.  To  this  remark  I 
found  several  exceptions.  I  met  with  one  man  of  84  years  of  age, 
who  had  been  intemperate  in  eating;  and  four  or  five  persons 
who  had  been  intemperate  in  drinking  ardent  spirits.  They  had 
all  been  day-labourers,  or  had  deferred  drinking  until  they  began 
to  feel  the  languor  of  old  age.  I  did  not  meet  with  a  single  person 
who  had  not,  for  the  last  forty  or  fifty  years  of  their  lives,  used 
tea,  coffee,  and  bread  and  butter  twice  a  day  as  part  of  their  diet. 
I  am  disposed  to  believe  that  those  articles  of  diet  do  not  materi- 
ally affect  the  duration  of  human  life,  although  they  evidently 
impair  the  strength  of  the  system.  The  duration  of  life  does  not 
appear  to  depend  so  much  upon  the  strength  of  the  body,  or 
upon  the  quantity  of  its  excitability,  as  upon  an  exact  accommo- 
dation of  stimuli  to  each  of  them.  A  watch  spring  will  last  as 
long  as  an  anchor,  provided  the  forces  which  are  capable  of 
destroying  both,  arc  always  in  an  exact  ratio  to  their  strength. 
The  use  of  tea  and  coffee  in  diet  seems  to  be  happily  suited  to 
the  change  which  has. taken  place  in  the  human  body,  by  seden- 
tary occupations,  by  which  means  less  nourishment  and  stimulus 
are  required  than  formerly,  to  support  animal  life. 

3.  The  moderate  exercise  of  the  Understanding.  It  has  long 
been  an  established  truth,  that  literary  men  (other  circumstances 
being  equal)  are  longer  lived  than  other  people.  But  it  is  not 
necessary  that  the  understanding  should  be  employed  upon  philo- 
sophical subjects  to  produce  this  influence  upon  human  life. 
Business,  politics,  and  religion,  which  are  the  objects  of  attention 


*  Dr.  Franklin,  who  died  in  his  84th  year,  was  descended  from  long- 
lived  parents.  His  father  died  at  89,  and  his  mother  at  87.  His  father  had 
17  children  by  two  wives.  The  Doctor  informed  me  that  he  once  sat 
down  as  one  of  u  adult  sons  and  daughters  at  his  father's  table.  In  an 
excursion  he  once  made  to  that  part  of  England  from  whence  his  family 
migrated  to  America,  he  discovered  in  a  grave-yard,  the  tomb-stones  of 
several  persons  of  his  name,  who  had  lived  to  be  very  old.  These  persons 
he  supposed  to  have  been  his  ancestors. 


344      SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

of  men  of  all  classes,  impart  a  vigour  to  the  understanding,  which, 
by  being  conveyed  to  every  part  of  the  body,  tends  to  produce 
health  and  long  life. 

4.  Equanimity  of  te?tiper.  The  violent  and  irregular  action  of 
the  passions  tends  to  wear  away  the  springs  of  life. 

Persons  who  live  upon  annuities  in  Europe  have  been  ob- 
served to  be  longer  lived,  in  equal  circumstances,  than  other 
people.  This  is  probably  occasioned  by  their  being  exempted,  by 
the  certainty  of  their  subsistence  from  those  fears  of  want  which 
so  frequently  distract  the  minds,  and  thereby  weaken  the  bodies 
of  old  people.  Life-rents  have  been  supposed  to  have  the  same 
influence  in  prolonging  life.  Perhaps  the  desire  of  life,  in  order 
to  enjoy  for  as  long  a  time  as  possible,  that  property  which  can- 
not be  enjoyed  a  second  time  by  a  child  or  relation,  may  be  an- 
other cause  of  the  longevity  of  persons  who  live  upon  certain 
incomes.  It  is  a  fact,  that  the  desire  of  life  is  a  very  powerful 
stimulus  in  prolonging  it,  especially  when  that  desire  is  supported 
by  hope.  This  is  obvious  to  physicians  fevery  day.  Despair  of 
recovery  is  the  beginning  of  death  in  all  diseases. 

But  obvious  and  reasonable  as  the  effects  of  equanimity  of 
temper  are  upon  human  life,  there  are  some  exceptions  in  favour 
of  passionate  men  and  women  having  attained  to  a  great  age.  The 
morbid  stimulus  of  anger,  in  these  cases,  was  probably  obviated 
by  less  degrees,  or  less  active  exercises  of  the  understanding,  or 
by  the  defect  or  weakness  of  some  of  the  other  stimuli  which 
keep  up  the  motions  of  life. 

5.  Matrimony.  In  the  course  of  my  inquiries,  I  met  with  only 
one  person  beyond  eighty  years  of  age  who  had  never  been 

married. 1  met  with  several  women  who  had  borne  from 

ten  to  twenty  children,  and  suckled  them  all.  I  met  with  one 
woman,  a  native  of  Herefordshire  in  England,  who  is  now  in  the 
rooth  year  of  her  age,  who  bore  a  child  at  60,  menstruated  till 
80,  and  frequently  suckled  two  of  her  children  (though  born 
in  succession  to  each  other)  at  the  same  time.  She  had  passed 
the  greatest  part  of  her  life  over  a  washing-tub. 


ON  MISCELLANEOUS  THINGS  345 

6.  Emigration.  I  have  observed  many  instances  of  Europeans 
who  have  arrived  in  America  in  the  decline  of  life,  who  have 
acquired  fresh  vigour  from  the  impression  of  our  climate,  and 
of  new  objects  upon  their  bodies  and  minds;  and  whose  lives, 
in  consequence  thereof,  appeared  to  have  been  prolonged  for 
many  years. 

7.  I  have  not  found  Sedentary  Employments  to  prevent  long 
life,  where  they  are  not  accompanied  by  intemperance  in  eating 
or  drinking.  This  observation  is  not  confined  to  literary  men, 
nor  to  women  only,  in  whom  longevity,  without  much  exercise 
of  body,  has  been  frequently  observed.  I  met  with  one  instance 
of  a  weaver;  a  second  of  a  silver-smith;  and  a  third  of  a  shoe- 
maker, among  the  number  of  old  people,  whose  histories  have 
suggested  these  observations. 

8.  I  have  not  found  that  acute,  nor  that  all  chronic  diseases 
shorten  human  life.  Dr.  Franklin  had  two  successive  cavities  in 
his  lungs  before  he  was  40  years  old.  I  met  with  one  man  beyond 
80,  who  had  survived  a  most  violent  attack  of  the  yellow  fever; 
a  second  who  had  several  of  his  bones  fractured  by  falls,  and  in 
frays;  and  many  who  had  been  frequently  affected  by  inter- 
mittent fever.  I  met  with  one  man  of  86,  who  had  all  his  life 
been  subject  to  fainting;  another  who  had  for  50  years  been 
occasionally  affected  by  a  cough;  *  and  two  instances  of  men 
who  had  been  afflicted  for  forty  years  with  obstinate  head-aches. f 
I  met  with  only  one  person  beyond  80,  who  had  ever  been 
affected  by  a  disorder  in  the  stomach-,  and  in  him,  it  arose  from 
an  occasional  rupture.  Mr.  John  Strangeways  Button,  of  this 
city,  who  died  last  year,  in  the  lopth  year  of  his  age,  informed 
me,  that  he  had  never  vomited  in  his  life.  This  circumstance 
is  the  more  remarkable,  as  he  passed  several  years  at  sea  when 


*  This  man's  only  remedy  for  his  cough  was  the  fine  powder  of  dry 
Indian  turnip  and  honey. 

f  Dr.  Thiery  says,  That  he  did  not  find  the  itch,  or  slight  degrees  of 
the  leprosy,  to  prevent  longevity.  Observations  de  Physique,  et  de  Medi- 
cine fakes  en  differens  lieux  de  L'Espagne.  Vol.  II.  p.  171. 


346       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

a  young  man.  J  These  facts  may  serve  to  extend  our  ideas  of  the 
importance  of  a  healthy  state  of  the  stomach  in  the  animal  econ- 
omy; and  thereby  to  add  to  our  knowledge  in  the  prognosis  of 
diseases,  and  in  the  chances  of  human  life. 

9.  I  have  not  found  the  loss  of  teeth  to  affect  the  duration 
of  human  life,  so  much  as  might  be  expected.  Fxlward  Drinker, 
who  lived  to  be  103  years  old,  lost  his  teeth  thirty  years  before 
he  died  from  drawing  the  hot  smoke  of  tobacco  into  his  mouth 
through  a  short  pipe. 

Dr.  Sayrc,  of  New  Jersey,  to  whom  I  am  indebted  for  several 
very  valuable  histories  of  old  persons,  mentions  one  man  aged  81, 
whose  teeth  began  to  decay  at  16,  and  another  of  90,  who  lost 
his  teeth  thirty  years  before  he  saw  him.  The  gums,  by  becoming 
hard,  perform,  in  part,  the  office  of  teeth.  But  may -not  the  gastric 
juice  of  the  stomach,  like  the  tears  and  urine,  become  acrid  by 
age,  and  thereby  supply,  by  a  more  dissolving  power,  the  defect 
of  mastication  from  the  loss  of  teeth?  Analogies  might  easily  be 
adduced  from  several  operations  of  nature,  which  go  forward 
in  the  animal  economy,  which  render  this  supposition  highly 
probable. 

10.  I  have  not  observed  Baldness,  or  Grey  Hairs,  occurring 
in  early  or  middle  life,  to  prevent  old  age.  In  one  of  the  histories 
furnished  me  by  Dr.  Sayre,  I  find  an  account  of  a  man  of  81, 


t  The  venerable  old  man,  whose  history  first  suggested  this  remark, 
was  born  in  New -York  in  the  year  1684 —  His  grandfather  lived  to  be 
101,  but  was  unable  to  walk  for  thirty  years  before  he  died,  from  an 
excessive  quantity  of  fat.  His  mother  died  at  91.  His  constant  drinks  were 
water,  beer,  and  cider.  He  had  a  fixed  dislike  of  spirits  of  all  kinds.  His 
appetite  was  good,  and  he  ate  plentifully  during  the  last  years  of  his  life. 
He  seldom  drank  any  thing  between  his  meals.  He  was  never  intoxicated 
but  twice  in  his  life,  and  that  was  when  a  boy,  and  at  sea,  where  he 
remembers  perfectly  well  to  have  celebrated  by  a  feu  de  joye  the  birthday 
of  Queen  Anne.  He  was  formerly  afflicted  with  the  head-ache  and  giddi- 
ness, but  never  had  a  fever,  except  from  the  small-pox,  in  the  course  of 
his  life.  His  pulse  was  slow,  but  regular.  He  had  been  twice  married.  By 
his  first  wife  he  had  eight,  and  by  his  second  seventeen  children.  One  of 
them  lived  to  be  83  years  of  age.  He  was  about  five  feet  nine  inches  in 
height,  of  a  slender  make,  and  carried  an  erect  head  to  the  last  year  of 
his  life. 


ON  MISCELLANEOUS  THINGS  347 

whose  hair  began  to  assume  a  silver  colour  when  he  was  only 
one-and-twenty  years  of  age. 

I  shall  conclude  this  head  by  the  following  remark: 
Notwithstanding  there  appears  in  the  human  body  a  certain 
capacity  of  long  life,  which  seems  to  dispose  it  to  preserve  its 
existence  in  -every  situation;  yet  this  capacity  does  not  always 
protect  it  from  premature  destruction;  for  among  the  old  people 
whom  I  examined,  I  scarcely  met  with  one  who  had  not  lost 
brothers  or  sisters,  in  early  and  middle  life,  and  who  were  born 
under  circumstances  equally  favourable  to  longevity  with  them- 
selves. 

II.  I  come  now  to  mention  some  of  the  phenomena  of  the 
body  and  mind  which  occur  in  old  age. 

1 .  There  is  a  great  sensibility  to  cold  in  all  old  people.  I  met 
with  an  old  woman  of  84,  who  slept  constantly  under  three 
blankets  and  a  coverlet  during  the  hottest  summer  months.  The 
servant  of  Prince  de  Beaufremont,  who  came  from  Mount  Jura 
to  Paris  at  the  age  of  1 2 1 ,  to  pay  his  respects  to  the  first  National 
Assembly  of  France,  shivered  with  cold  in  the  middle  of  the  dog 
days,  when  he  was  not  near  a  good  fire.  The  National  Assembly 
directed  him  to  sit  with  his  hat  on,  in  order  to  defend  his  head 
from  the  cold. 

2.  Impressions  made  upon  the  ears  of  old  people,  excite  sen- 
sation and  reflection  much  quicker  than  when  they  are  made 
upon  their  eyes.  Mr.  Hutton  informed  me,  that  he  had  fre- 
quently met  his  sons  in  the  street  without  knowing  them  until 
they  had  spoken  to  him.  Dr.  Franklin  informed  me  that  he  rec- 
ognized his  friends,  after  a  long  absence  from  them,  first  by  their 
voices.  This  fact  does  not  contradict  the  common  opinion,  upon 
the  subject  of  memory,  for  the  recollection  in  these  instances,  is 
the  effect  of  what  is  called  reminiscence,  which  differs  from 
memory  in  being  excited  only  by  the  renewal  of  the  impression 
which  at  first  produced  the  idea  which  is  revived. 

2.  The  appetite  for  food  is  generally  increased  in  old  age. 
The  famous  Parr,  who  died  at  152,  ate  heartily  in  the  last  week 
of  his  life.  The  kindness  of  nature,  in  providing  this  last  portion 


348       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

of  earthly  enjoyments  for  old  people,  deserves  to  be  noticed. 
It  is  remarkable,  that  they  have,  like  children,  a  frequent  recur- 
rence of  appetite,  and  sustain  with  great  uneasiness  the  intervals 
of  regular  meals.  The  observation,  therefore,  made  by  Hip- 
pocrates, that  middle  aged  people  are  more  affected  by  absti- 
nence than  those  who  are  old,  is  not  true.  This  might  easily  be 
proved  by  many  appeals  to  the  records  of  medicine;  but  old 
people  differ  from  children,  in  preferring  solid  to  liquid  aliment. 
From  inattention  to  this  fact,  Dr.  Mead  has  done  great  mischief 
by  advising  old  people,  as  their  teeth  decayed  or  perished,  to 
lessen  the  quantity  of  their  solid,  and  to  increase  the  quantity 
of  their  liquid  food.  This  advice  is  contrary  to  nature  and  ex- 
perience, and  I  have  heard  of  two  old  persons  who  destroyed 
themselves  by  following  it.  The  circulation  of  the  ..blood  is  sup- 
ported in  old  people  chiefly  by  the  stimulus  of  aliment.  The 
action  of  liquids  of  all  kinds  upon  the  system  is  weak,  and  of 
short  continuance,  compared  with  the  durable  stimulus  of  solid 
food.  There  is  a  gradation  in  the  action  of  this  food  upon  the 
body.  Animal  matters  are  preferred  to  vegetable;  the  fat  of 
meat,  to  the  lean,  and  salted  meat  to  fresh,  by  most  old  people. 
I  have  met  with  but  few  old  people  who  retained  an  appetite 
for  milk.  It  is  remarkable,  that  a  less  quantity  of  strong  drink 
produces  intoxication  in  old  people  than  in  persons  in  the  middle 
of  life.  This  depends  upon  the  recurrence  of  the  same  state  of 
the  system,  with  respect  to  excitability,  which  takes  place  in 
childhood.  Many  old  people,  from  an  ignorance  of  this  fact,  have 
made  shipwreck  of  characters  which  have  commanded  respect 
in  every  previous  stage  of  their  lives.  From  the  same  recurrence 
of  the  excitability  of  childhood  in  their  systems,  they  commonly 
drink  their  tea  and  coffee  much  weaker  than  in  early  or  middle 
life. 

3.  The  pulse  is  generally  full,  and  frequently  affected  by 
pauses  in  its  pulsations  when  felt  in  the  wrists  of  old  people.  A 
regular  pulse  in  such  persons  indicates  a  disease,  as  it  shews  the 
system  to  be  under  the  impression  of  a  preternatural  stimulus 
of  some  kind.  This  observation  was  suggested  to  me  above 


ON  MISCELLANEOUS  THINGS  349 

twenty  years  ago  by  Morgagni,  and  I  have  often  profited  by  it 
in  attending  old  people.  The  pulse  in  such  patients  is  an  un- 
certain mark  of  the  nature  or  degree  of  an  acute  disease.  It 
seldom  partakes  of  the  quickness  or  convulsive  action  of  the 
arterial  system,  which  attends  fever  in  young  or  middle-aged 
people.  I  once  attended  a  man  of  77  in  a  fever  of  the  bilious 
kind,  which  confined  him  for  eight  days  to  his  bed,  in  whom  I 
could  not  perceive  the  least  quickness  or  morbid  action  in  his 
pulse  until  four-and-twenty  hours  before  he  died. 

4.  The  marks  of  old  age  appear  earlier,  and  are  more  numer- 
ous in  persons  who  have  combined  with  hard  labour,  a  vegetable 
or  scanty  diet,  than  in  persons  who  have  lived  under  opposite 
circumstances.  I  think  I  have  observed  these  marks  of  old  age  to 
occur  sooner,  and  to  be  more  numerous  in  the  German,  than 
in  the  English  or  Irish  citizens  of  Pennsylvania.  They  are  likewise 
more  common  among  the  inhabitants  of  country  places,  than 
of  cities  and  still  more  so  among  the  Indians  of  North  America, 
than  among  the  inhabitants  of  civilized  countries. 

5.  Old  men  tread  upon  the  whole  base  of  their  feet  at  once 
in  walking.  This  is  perhaps  one  reason  why  they  wear  out  fewer 
shoes,  under  the  same  circumstances  of  constant  use,  than  young 
people,  who,  by  treading  on  the  posterior,  and  rising  on  the 
anterior  part  of  their  feet,  expose  their  shoes  to  more  unequal 
pressure  and  friction.  The  advantage  derived  to  old  people  from 
this  mode  of  walking  is  very  obvious.  It  lessens  that  disposition 
to  totter,  which  is  always  connected  with  weakness: — hence  we 
find  the  same  mode  of  walking  is  adopted  by  habitual  drunkards, 
and  is  sometimes  from  habit  practiced  by  them,  when  they  are 
not  under  the  influence  of  strong  drink. 

6.  The  memory  is  the  first  faculty  of  the  mind  which  fails 
in  the  decline  of  life.  While  recent  events  pass  through  the  mind 
without  leaving  an  impression  upon  it,  it  is  remarkable  that  the 
long  forgotten  events  of  childhood  and  youth  are  recalled  and 
distinctly  remembered. 

I  met  with  a  singular  instance  of  a  German  woman,  who  had 
learned  to  speak  the  language  of  our  country  after  she  was  forty 


350       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

years  of  age,  who  had  forgotten  every  word  of  it  after  she  had 
passed  her  Both  year,  but  spoke  the  German  language  as  fluently 
as  ever  she  had  done.  The  memory  decays  soonest  in  hard 
drinkers.  I  have  observed  some  studious  men  to  suffer  a  decay 
of  their  memories,  but  never  of  their  understandings.  Among 
these,  was  the  late  Anthony  Benezet  of  this  city.  But  even  this 
infirmity  did  not  abate  the  cheerfulness,  or  lessen  the  happiness 
of  this  pious  philosopher,  for  he  once  told  me,  when  I  was  a 
young  man,  that  he  had  a  consolation  in  the  decay  of  his  mem- 
ory, which  gave  him  a  great  advantage  over  me.  "You  can  read 
a  good  book  (said  he)  with  pleasure  but  once,  but  when  I  read 
a  good  book,  I  so  soon  forget  the  contents  of  it,  that  I  have  the 
pleasure  of  reading  it  over  and  over;  and  every  time  I  read  it, 
it  is  alike  new  and  delightful  to  me." — The  celebrated  Dr.  Swift 
was  one  of  those  few  studious  men,  who  have  exhibited  marks 
of  a  decay  of  understanding  in  old  age;  but  it  is  judiciously 
ascribed  by  Dr.  Johnson  to  two  causes  which  rescue  books, 
and  the  exercise  of  the  thinking  powers,  from  having  had  any 
share  in  inducing  that  disease  upon  his  mind.  These  causes  were, 
a  rash  vow  which  he  made  when  a  young  man,  never  to  use 
spectacles,  and  a  sordid  seclusion  of  himself  from  company,  by 
which  means  he  was  cut  off  from  the  use  of  books,  and  the 
benefits  of  conversation,  the  absence  of  which  left  his  mind 
without  its  usual  stimulus — hence  it  collapsed  into  a  state  of 
fatuity.  It  is  probably  owing  to  the  constant  exercise  of  the 
understanding,  that  literary  men  possess  that  faculty  of  the  mind 
in  a  vigorous  state  in  extreme  old  age.  The  same  cause  accounts 
for  old  people  preserving  their  intellects  longer  in  cities,  than 
in  country  places.  They  enjoy  society  upon  such  easy  terms  in 
the  former  situation,  that  their  minds  are  kept  more  constantly 
in  an  excited  state  by  the  acquisition  of  new,  or  the  renovation 
of  old  ideas,  by  means  of  conversation. 

7.  I  did  not  meet  with  a  single  instance  in  which  the  moral 
or  religious  faculties  were  impaired  in  old  people.  I  do  not  be- 
lieve, that  these  faculties  of  the  mind  are  preserved  by  any  super- 
natural power,  but  wholly  by  the  constant  and  increasing  exer- 


ON  MISCELLANEOUS  THINGS  351 

else  of  them  in  the  evening  of  life.  In  the  course  of  my  inquiries, 
I  heard  of  a  man  of  101  years  of  age,  who  declared  that  he  had 
forgotten  every  thing  he  had  ever  known,  except  his  God.  I 
found  the  moral  faculty,  or  a  disposition. to  do  kind  offices,  to 
be  exquisitely  sensible  in  several  old  people,  in  whom  there  was 
scarcely  a  trace  left  of  memory  or  understanding. 

8.  Dreaming  is  universal  among  old  people.  It  appears  to  be 
brought  on  by  their  imperfect  sleep,  of  which  I  shall  say  more 
hereafter. 

9.  I  mentioned  formerly  the  sign  of  a  second  childhood  in 
the  state  of  the  appetite  in  old  people.  It  appears  further, — i.  In 
the  marks  which  slight  contusions  or  impressions  leave  upon  their 
skins.  2.  In  their  being  soon  fatigued  by  walking  or  exercise, 
and  in  being  as  soon  refreshed  by  rest.  3.  In  their  disposition, 
like  children,  to  detail  immediately  every  thing  they  see  and 
hear.  And,  4.  In  their  aptitude  to  shed  tears;  hence  they  are 
unable  to  tell  a  story  that  is  in  any  degree  distressing  without 
weeping.  Dr.  Moore  takes  notice  of  this  peculiarity  in  Voltaire, 
after  he  had  passed  his  Both  year.  He  wept  constantly  at  the 
recital  of  his  own  tragedies.  This  feature  in  old  age  did  not  escape 
I  lomer.  Old  Menelaus  wept  ten  years  after  he  returned  from  the 
destruction  of  Troy,  when  he  spoke  of  the  death  of  the  heroes 
who  perished  before  that  city. 

10.  It  wrould  be  sufficiently  humbling  to  human  nature,  if 
our  bodies  exhibited  in  old  age  the  marks  only  of  a  second  child- 
hood; but  human  weakness  descends  still  lower.  I  met  with  an 
instance  of  a  woman  between  80  and  90,  who  exhibited  the 
marks  of  a  second  infancy,  by  such  a  total  decay  of  her  mental 
faculties  as  to  lose  all  consciousness  in  discharging  her  alvine  and 
urinary  excretions.  In  this  state  of  the  body,  a  disposition  to  sleepv 
succeeds  the  wakefulness  of  the  first  stages  of  old  age.  Dr.  Haller 
mentions  an  instance  of  a  very  old  man  who  slept  twenty,  out 
of  every  twenty-four  hours  during  the  few  last  years  of  his  life. 

1 1 .  The  disposition  in  the  system  to  renew  certain  parts  in 
extreme  old  age,  has  been  mentioned  by  several  authors.  Many 
instances  are  to  be  met  with  in  the  records  of  mediciue  of  the; 


352       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

sight  *  and  hearing  having  been  restored,  and  even  of  the  teeth 
having  been  renewed  in  old  people  a  few  years  before  death. 
These  phenomena  have  led  me  to  suspect,  that  the  antediluvian 
age  was  attained  by  the  frequent  renovation  of  different  parts 
of  the  body,  and  that  when  they  occur,  they  are  an  effort  of  the 
causes  which  support  animal  life,  to  produce  antediluvian 
longevity,  by  acting  upon  the  revived  excitability  of  the  system. 

12.  The  fear  of  death  appears  to  be  much  less  in  old  age, 
than  in  early,  or  middle  life.  I  met  with  many  old  people  who 
spoke  of  their  dissolution  with  composure,  and  with  some  who 
expressed  earnest  desires  to  lie  down  in  the  grave.  This  indiffer- 
ence to  life,  and  desire  for  death  (whether  they  arise  from  satiety 
in  worldly  pursuits  and  pleasures,  or  from  a  desire  of  being  re- 
lieved from  pain)  appear  to  be  a  wise  law  in  the  animal  economy, 
and  worthy  of  being  classed  with  those  laws  which  accommo- 
date the  body  and  mind  of  man  to  all  the  natural  evils,  to  which, 
in  the  common  order  of  things,  they  are  necessarily  exposed. 

III.  I  come  now  briefly  to  enumerate  the  diseases  of  old  age, 
and  the  remedies  which  are  most  proper  to  remove,  or  to  miti- 
gate them. 

The  diseases  are  chronic  and  acute.  The  CHRONIC  are, 

i.  Weakness  of  the  knees  and  ankles,  a  lessened  ability  to 
walk,  and  tremors  in  the  head  and  limbs. 

*  There  is  a  remarkable  instance  of  the  sight  having  been  restored 
after  it  had  been  totally  destroyed  in  an  old  man  near  Reading  in  Penn- 
sylvania. My  brother,  Jacob  Rush,  furnished  me  with  the  following  ac- 
count of  him  in  a  letter  from  Reading,  dated  June  23,  1792. 

"An  old  man  of  84  years  of  age,  of  the  name  of  Adam  Riffle,  near 
this  town,  gradually  lost  his  sight  in  the  68th  year  of  his  age,  and  con- 
tinued entirely  blind  for  the  space  of  twelve  years.  About  four  years  ago 
his  sight  returned,  without  making  use  of  any  means  for  the  purpose, 
and  without  any  visible  change  in  the  appearance  of  the  eyes,  and  he  now 
sees  as  well  as  ever  he  did.  I  have  seen  the  man,  and  have  no  doubt  of  the 
fact.  He  is  at  this  time  so  hearty,  as  to  be  able  to  walk  from  his  house  to 
Reading,  (about  three  miles)  which  he  frequently  does  in  order  to  attend 
church.  I  should  observe,  that  during  both  the  gradual  loss,  and  recovery 
of  his  sight,  he  was  no  ways  affected  by  sickness,  but  on  the  contrary  en- 
joyed his  usual  health.  I  have  this  account  from  his  daughter  and  son-in- 
law,  who  live  within  a  few  doors  of  me." 


ON  MISCELLANEOUS  THINGS  353 

2.  Pains  in  the  bones ,  known  among  nosological  writers  by 
the  name  of  rheumatalgia. 

3.  Involuntary  flow  of  tears,  and  of  mucus  from  the  nose. 

4.  Difficulty  of  breathing,  and  a  short  cough,  with  copious 
expectoration.  A  weak,  or  hoarse  voice  generally  attends  this 
cough. 

5.  Constipation. 

6.  An  inability  to  retain  the  urine  as  long  as  in  early  or  middle 
life.  Few  persons  beyond  60  pass  a  whole  night  without  being 
obliged  to  discharge  their  urine. *  Perhaps  the  stimulus  of  this 
liquor  in  the  bladder  may  be  one  cause  of  the  universality  of 
dreaming  among  old  people.  It  is  certainly  a  frequent  cause  of 
dreaming  in  persons  in  early  and  middle  life:  this  I  infer,  from 
its  occurring  chiefly  in  the  morning  when  the  bladder  is  most 
distended  with  urine.  There  is  likewise  an  inability  in  old  people 
to  discharge  their  urine  as  quickly  as  in  early  life.  I  think  I  have 
observed  this  to  be  among  the  first  symptoms  of  the  declension 
of  the  strength  of  the  body  by  age. 

7.  Wake  fulness.  This  is  probably  produced  in  part  by  the 
action  of  the  urine  upon  the  bladder;  but  such  is  the  excitability 
of  the  system  in  the  first  stages  of  old  age,  that  there  is  no  pain 
so  light,  no  anxiety  so  trifling,  and  no  sound  so  small,  as  not  to 
produce  wakcfulncss  in  old  people.  It  is  owing  to  their  imperfect 
sleep,  that  they  are  sometimes  as  unconscious  of  the  moment  of 
their  passing  from  a  sleeping  to  a  waking  state,  as  young  and 
middle  aged  people  arc  of  the  moment  in  which  they  pass  from 
the  waking  to  a  sleeping  state.  Hence  we  so  often  hear  them 
complain  of  passing  sleepless  nights.  This  is  no  doubt  frequently 
the  case,  but  I  am  satisfied,  from  the  result  of  an  inquiry  made 
upon  this  subject,  that  they  often  sleep  without  knowing  it,  and 
that  their  complaints  in  the  morning,  of  the  want  of  sleep,  arise 
from  ignorance,  without  the  least  intention  to  deceive. 


*  I  met  with  an  old  man  who  informed  me,  that  if  from  any  accident 
he  retained  his  urine  after  he  felt  an  inclination  to  discharge  it,  he  was 
affected  by  a  numbness,  accompanied  by  an  uneasy  sensation  in  the  palms 
of  his  hands. 


354       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

8.  Giddiness. 

9.  Deafness. 

10.  Imperfect  vision. 

The  acute  diseases  most  common  among  old  people,  are 

1.  Inflammation  of  the  eyes. 

2.  The  pneumonia  notba,  or  bastard  pcripneumony. 

3.  The  colic. 

4.  Palsy  and  apoplexy. 

5.  The  piles. 

6.  A  difficulty  in  making  ivater. 

7.  Intermittent  fever. 

All  the  diseases  of  old  people,  both  chronic  and  acute,  origi- 
nate in  predisposing  debility.  The  remedies  for  the  former,  where 
a  feeble  morbid  action  takes  place  in  the  system,  afe  stimulants. 
The  first  of  these  is, 

1.  HEAT.  The  ancient  Romans  prolonged  life  by  retiring  to 
Naples,  as  soon  as  they  felt  the  infirmities  of  age  coming  upon 
them.  The  aged  Portuguese  imitate  them,  by  approaching  the 
mild  sun  of  Brazil,  in  South  America.  But  heat  may  be  applied 
to  the  torpid  bodies  of  old  people  artificially — ist.  By  means  of 
the  rwarm  bath.  Dr.  Franklin  owed  much  of  the  cheerfulness 
and  general  vigour  of  body  and  mind  which  characterized  his 
old  age,  to  his  regular  use  of  this  remedy.  It  disposed  him  to 
sleep,  and  even  produced  a  respite  from  the  pain  of  the  stone, 
with  which  he  was  afflicted  during  the  last  years  of  his  life. 

2 .  Heat  may  be  applied  to  the  bodies  of  old  people  by  means 
of  stove  rooms.  The  late  Dr.  Dewit  of  Germantown,  who  lived 
to  be  near  an  100  years  of  age, 'seldom  breathed  an  air  below 
72°,  after  he  became  an  old  man.  He  lived  constantly  in  a  stove 
room. 

3.  Warm  clothing,  more  especially  warm  bedclothes,  are 
proper  to  preserve  or  increase  the  heat  of  old  people.  From  the 
neglect  of  the  latter,  they  are  often  found  dead  in  their  beds  in 
the  morning,  after  a  cold  night,  in  all  cold  countries.  The  late 
Dr.  Chovet,  of  this  city,  who  lived  to  be  85  slept  in  a  baize  night 
gown,  under  eight  blankets,  and  a  coverlet,  in  a  stove  room,  many 


ON  MISCELLANEOUS  THINGS  355 

years  before  he  died.  The  head  should  be  defended  in  old  people 
by  means  of  woollen,  or  fur  caps,  in  the  night,  and  by  wigs  and 
hats  during  the  day,  in  cold  weather.  These  artificial  coverings 
will  be  the  more  necessary,  where  the  head  has  been  deprived  of 
its  natural  covering.  Great  pains  should  be  taken  likewise  to  keep 
the  feet  dry  and  warm,  by  means  of  thick  shoes. *  To  these  modes 
of  applying  and  confining  heat  to  the  bodies  of  old  people,  a 
young  bed-fellow  has  been  added;  but  I  conceive  the  three  arti- 
ficial modes  which  have  been  recommended,  will  be  sufficient 
without  the  use  of  one,  which  cannot  be  successfully  employed 
without  a  breach  of  delicacy  or  humanity. 

II.  To  keep  up  the  action  of  the  system,  generous  diet  and 
drinks  should  be  given  to  old  people.  For  a  reason  mentioned 
formerly,  they  should  be  indulged  in  eating  between  the  ordinary 
meals  of  families.  Wine  should  be  given  to  them  in  moderation. 
It  has  been  emphatically  called  the  milk  of  old  age. 

III.  YOUNG  COMPANY  should  be  preferred  by  old  people  to 
the  company  of  persons  of  their  own  age.  I  think  I  have  observed 
old  people  to  enjoy  better  health  and  spirits,  when  they  have 
passed  the  evening  of  .their  live^  in  the  families  of  their  children, 
where  they  have  been  surrounded  by  grand  children,  than  when 
they  lived  by  themselves.  Even  the  solicitude  they  feel  for  the 
welfare  of  their  descendants  contributes  to  invigorate  the  cir- 
culation of  the  blood,  and  thereby  to  add  fuel  to  the  lamp  of  life. 

IV.  GENTLE  EXERCISE.  This  is  of  great  consequence  in  pro- 

*  I  met  with  one  man  above  80,  who  defended  his  feet  from  moisture 
by  covering  his  shoes  in  wet  weather  with  melted  wax;  and  another  who, 
for  the  same  purpose,  covered  his  shoes  every  morning  with  a  mixture 
composed  of  the  following  ingredients  melted  together — Linseed  oil  a 
pound,  mutton  suet  eight  ounces,  bees-wax  six  ounces,  and  rosin  four 
ounces.  The  mixture  should  be  moderately  warmed,  and  then  applied  not 
only  to  the  upper  leather,  but  to  the  soles  of  the  shoes.  This  composition, 
the  old  gentleman  informed  me,  was  extracted  from  a  book  entitled  uThe 
complete  Fisherman,"  published  in  England  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Eliza- 
beth. He  had  used  it  for  twenty  years  in  cold  and  wet  weather,  with  great 
benefit,  and  several  of  his  friends  who  had  tried  it,  spoke  of  its  efficacy 
in  keeping  the  feet  dry,  in  high  terms. 


356       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

moting  the  health  of  old  people.  It  should  be  moderate,  regular, 
and  always  in  fair  weather. 

V.  CLEANLINESS.  This  should  by  no  means  be  neglected. 
The  dress  of  old  people  should  not  only  be  clean,  but  more  ele- 
gant than  in  youth  or  middle  life.  It  serves  to  divert  the  eye  of 
spectators  from  observing  the  decay  and  deformity  of  the  body, 
to  view  and  admire  that  which  is  always  agreeable  to  it. 

VI.  To  abate  the  pains  of  the  chronic  rheumatism,  and  the 
uneasiness  of  the  old  man's  cough  (as  it  is  called) ;  also  to  remove 
wakefulness,  and  to  restrain  during  the  night,  a  troublesome  in- 
clination to  make  water,  OPIUM  may  be  given  with  great  advan- 
tage. Chardin  informs  us,  that  this  medicine  is  frequently  used 
in  the  eastern  countries  to  abate  the  pains  and  weaknesses  of 
old  age,  by  those  people  who  are  debarred  the  use,  of  wine  by 
the  religion  of  Mahomet. 

I  have  nothing  to  say  upon  the  acute  diseases  of  old  people, 
but  what  is  to  be  found  in  most  of  our  books  of  medicine,  except 
to  recommend  BLEEDING  in  those  of  them  which  are  attended 
with  an  excess  of  blood  in  the  body,  and  an  inflammatory  action 
in  the  pulse.  The  degrees  of  appetite  which  belong  to  old  age, 
the  quality  of  the  food  taken,  and  the  sedentary  life  which  is 
generally  connected  with  it,  all  concur  to  produce  that  state  of 
the  system,  which  requires  the  above  evacuation.  I  am  sure  that 
I  have  seen  many  of  the  chronic  complaints  of  old  people  miti- 
gated by  it,  and  I  have  more  than  once  seen  it  used  with  obvious 
advantage  in  their  inflammatory  diseases.  These  affections  I  have 
observed  to  be  more  fatal  among  old  people  than  is  generally 
supposed.  An  inflammation  of  the  lungs,  which  terminated  in  an 
abscess,  deprived  the  world  of  Dr.  Franklin.  Dr.  Chovet  died  of 
an  inflammation  in  his  liver.  The  blood  drawn  from  him  a  few 
days  before  his  death  was  sizy,  and  such  was  the  heat  of  his  body, 
produced  by  his  fever,  that  he  could  not  bear  more  covering, 
(notwithstanding  his  former  habits  of  warm  clothing)  than  a 
sheet  in  the  month  of  January. 

Death  from  old  age  is  the  effect  of  a  gradual  palsy.  It  shews 
itself  first  in  the  eyes  and  ears  in  the  decay  of  sight  and  hearing — 


ON  MISCELLANEOUS  THINGS  357 

it  appears  next  in  the  urinary  bladder,  in  the  limbs  and  trunk 
of  the  body,  then  in  the  sphincters  of  the  bladder,  and  rectum, 
and  finally  in  the  nerves  and  brain,  destroying  in  the  last,  the 
exercise  of  all  the  faculties  of  the  mind. 

Few  persons  appear  to  die  of  old  age.  Some  one  of  the  diseases 
which  have  been  mentioned,  generally  cuts  the  last  thread  of  life. 


SERMON     ON     EXERCISE 

How  long  wilt  thou  sleep,  O  sluggard?  when  wilt  thou 
arise  out  of  thy  sleep? — Yet  a  little  sleep — a  little  slumber — a 
little  folding  of  the  hands  to  sleep. — So  shall  thy  poverty 
come  as  one  that  travelleth,  and  thy  want  as  an  armed  man. 

PROVERBS  vi.  9,  10,  n. 


MAN  WAS  formed  to  be  active.  The  vigour  of  his  mind,  and  the 
health  of  his  body  can  be  fully  preserved  by  no  other  means, 
than  by  labour  of  some  sort.  Hence,  when  we  read  the  sentence 
which  was  pronounced  upon  man  after  the  fall,  "That  in  the 
sweat  of  his  brow  he  should  eat  bread  all  the  days  of  his  life." 
We  cannot  help  admiring  the  goodness  of  the  Supreme  Being, 
in  connecting  his  punishment  with  what  had  now  become  the 
necessary  means  of  preserving  his  health.  Had  God  abandoned 
him  to  idleness,  he  would  have  entailed  tenfold  misery  upon  him. 
The  solid  parts  of  his  body,  particularly  the  nerves,  would  have 
lose  their  tone — the  muscles  would  have  lost  their  feeling  and 
moving  powers — and  the  fluids  in  consequence  of  this,  would 
have  lost  their  original  or  native  qualities,  and  have  stagnated 
in  every  part  of  his  body.  But,  instead  of  inflicting  this  compli- 
cated punishment  upon  him,  he  bids  him  be  ACTIVE,  and  implants 
a  principle  within  him  which  impels  him  to  it.  Civil  society  and 
agriculture  began  together.  The  latter  has  always  been  looked 
upon  among  the  first  employments  of  mankind. — It  calls  forth 
every  individual  of  the  human  race  into  action. — It  employs  the 
body  in  a  manner  the  most  conducive  to  its  health. — It  preserves 
and  increases  the  species  most; — and  lastly,  it  is  most  friendly  to 
the  practice  of  virtue.  For  these  reasons,  therefore,  it  is  natural 

358 


ON  MISCELLANEOUS  THINGS  359 

to  conclude  that  it  is  most  agreeable  to  the  Supreme  Being  that 
man  should  be  supported  by  it.  The  earth  is  a  skilful  as  well  as  a 
kind  mother  to  her  children.  Instead  of  pouring  her  treasures  in 
lapf  uls  upon  them  at  once,  and  consigning  them  to  idleness  ever 
afterwards,  she  bestows  her  gifts  with  a  sparing  hand,  and  ceases 
to  yield  them  any  thing,  as  soon  as  they  cease  to  cultivate  her. 
Thus  by  entailing  constant  labour,  she  meant  to  entail  constant 
health  upon  them. 

But  these  employments  were  too  innocent  for  the  restless 
spirit  of  man.  He  soon  deserted  his  fields — and  his  flocks — and 
sought  for  some  more  speedy  methods  of  acquiring  fortune — 
independence — and  a  superiority  over  his  fellow  creatures.  These 
have  been  obtained  by  commerce — war — rapine — and  lastly,  to 
the  reproach  of  the  American  colonies,  and  of  humanity,  be  it 
spoken,  by  the  perpetration  of  a  crime,  compared  with  which, 
every  other  breach  of  the  laws  of  nature  or  nations,  deserves  the 
name  of  holiness,  I  mean,  by  slavery.  But  in  exchange  for  these, 
he  hath  given  up  that  greatest  of  all  blessings,  health.  He  hath  had 
recourse  to  medicine  as  a  succedaneum  for  labour:  but  this  hath 
proved  ineffectual;  for  the  fossil — vegetable — and  those  parts  of 
the  animal  kingdom  which  are  employed  in  medicine,  have  not 
yet  learned,  like  man,  to  rise  in  rebellion  against  the  will  of  their 
Creator.  Solomon  seems  to  have  been  aware  of  this  in  the  words 
of  our  text,  and  hence  we  hear  him  calling  upon  him  to  awake 
from  his  unhealthy  "slumber" — to  rise  from  his  enervating  bed 
— to  unfold  his  "arms,"  and  employ  them  in  some  useful  labour, 
lest  sickness,  with  its  companion  "poverty,"  should  come  upon 
him  like  "travail  upon  a  woman  with  child,"  or  like  an  "armed 
man,"  neither  of  which  can  be  avoided  or  resisted.  But  Solomon, 
and  all  the  preachers  from  his  time  to  the  present  day,  who  have 
addressed  him  upon  this  subject,  have  used  their  eloquence  in 
vain.  Since  therefore  we  cannot  bring  man  back  again  to  his 
implements  of  husbandry,  we  must  attempt  to  find  out  some  kinds 
of  exercise  as  substitutes  for  them.  The  most  healthy  and  long- 
lived  people  are  found  among  the  labouring  part  of  mankind — 
Would  the  rich  then  enjoy  health  and  long  life,  they  must  do 


360       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

that  of  choice  which  these  people  do  of  necessity.  They  must 
by  exercise,  subject  themselves  to  a  kind  of  voluntary  labour. 

As  this  discourse  is  addressed  chiefly  to  the  rich  and  the 
luxurious,  who  are  the  most  given  to  idleness,  I  shall  confine 
myself  to  Exercise  only;  and,  in  order  to  handle  the  subject  in 
the  most  extensive  manner,  I  shall  consider 
I.  The  different  modes  of  exercise. 

II.  The  proper  time  for  using  it;  and  then  I  shall  conclude 
with  an  Application. 

I.  All  Exercise  may  be  divided  into  Active  and  Passive. 

Active  exercise  includes  walking — running — dancing — fenc- 
ing— swimming,  and  the  like. 

Passive  exercise  includes  sailing — riding  in  a  carriage,  and  on 
horseback.  The  last  of  these  is  of  a  mixed  nature;  and  is  in  some 
measure  active  as  well  as  passive.  We  shall  treat  of  each  of  them 
in  order. 

OF   ACTIVE   EXERCISE 

Walking  is  the  most  gentle  species  of  it  we  are  acquainted 
with.  It  promotes  perspiration,  and  if  not  continued  too  long, 
invigorates  and  strengthens  the  system.  As  the  most  simple  and 
wholesome  drink,  namely  water,  is  within  every  body's  reach,  so 
this  species  of  simple  and  wholesome  exercise  is  in  every  body's 
power,  who  has  the  use  of  his  limbs.  It  is  to  be  lamented,  that 
carriages  are  substituted  too  often  in  the  room  of  it.  In  Peking 
in  China,  we  are  told,  thkt  none  but  the  Emperor,  and  a  few  of 
the  first  officers  of  state,  are  suffered  to  use  chariots.  Although 
the  intention  of  this  law  was  to  suppress  the  number  of  horses, 
in  order  to  make  room  for  the  increase  and  support  of  the  human 
species,  in  the  number  of  which  the  riches  of  all  countries  con- 
sist, yet  we  find  it  attended  with  good  effects  otherwise;  for  the 
rich  and  the  great,  by  being  obliged  to  walk  in  common  with  the 
poor  people,  enjoy  with  them  the  common  blessing  of  health, 
more  than  people  of  the  same  rank  in  other  countries.  To  such 
as  can  bear  it,  I  would  recommend  walking  frequently  up  a  hill. 


ON  MISCELLANEOUS  THINGS  361 

The  inhabitants  of  mountainous  countries  are  generally  healthy 
and  long  lived.  This  is  commonly  attributed  to  the  purity  of  the 
air  in  such  places.  Although  this  has  a  chief  share  in  it,  yet  I 
cannot  help  thinking,  that  the  frequent  and  necessary  exercise 
of  climbing  mountains,  which  these  people  are  obliged  to  un- 
dergo, adds  much  to  their  health  and  lives.  Every  body  knows 
how  much  walking  up  a  hill  tends  to  create  an  appetite.  This 
depends  upon  its  increasing  the  insensible  perspiration — a  secre- 
tion with  which  the  appetite,  and  the  state  of  the  stomach  in 
general,  are  much  connected. 

Running  is  too  violent  to  be  used  often,  or  continued  for  any 
length  of  time.  The  running  footmen  in  all  countries  are  short- 
lived— Few  of  them  escape  consumptions  before  they  arrive  at 
their  thirty-fifth  year. 

Dancing  is  a  most  salutary  exercise.  Future  ages  will  be  sur- 
prised to  hear,  that  rational  creatures  should,  at  any  time,  have 
looked  upon  it  as  a  criminal  amusement.  To  reason  against  it, 
from  its  abuse,  concludes  equally  strong  against  the  lawfulness  of 
every  thing  we  hold  sacred  and  valuable  in  life. — It  was  a  part 
of  the  Jewish  worship.  By  its  mechanical  effects  on  the  body,  it 
inspires  the  mind  with  cheerfulness,  and  this,  when  well  founded, 
and  properly  restrained,  is  another  name  for  religion.  It  is  com- 
mon among  the  Indians,  and  the  savage  nations  of  all  countries, 
upon  public  and  festive  occasions. — They  have  their  war — their 
love — and  their  religious  dances.  The  music,  which  always  ac- 
companies this  exercise,  hath  a  pleasing  and  salutary  effect  upon 
the  body  as  well  as  the  mind.  It  is  addressed  through  the  avenue 
of  the  ears  to  the  brain,  the  common  centre  of  life  and  motion, 
from  whence  its  oscillations  are  communicated  to  every  part  of 
the  system,  imparting  to  each,  that  equable  and  uniform  vigour 
and  action,  upon  which  the  healthy  state  of  all  the  functions 
depends.  It  would  lead  us  to  a  long  digression,  or  I  might  here 
mention  many  remarkable  cures  which  have  been  performed, 
particularly  of  those  disorders,  .which  are  much  connected  with 
the  nervous  system,  by  the  magic  power  of  music.  Dancing 
should  not  be  used  more  than  once  or  twice  a  week.  It  should 


362       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

never  be  continued  'till  weariness  comes  on,  nor  should  we 
expose  ourselves  to  the  cold  air  too  soon  after  it. 

Fencing  calls  forth  most  of  the  muscles  into  exercise,  par- 
ticularly those  which  move  the  limbs.  The  brain  is  likewise 
roused  by  it,  through  the  avenue  of  the  eyes,  and  its  action, 
as  in  the  case  of  music,  is  propagated  to  the  whole  system.  It 
has  long  been  a  subject  of  complaint,  that  the  human  species  has 
been  degenerating  for  these  several  centuries.  When  we  see  the 
coats  of  mail  of  our  ancestors,  who  fought  under  the  Edwards 
and  Henries  of  former  ages,  we  wonder  how  they  moved,  much 
more  how  they  achieved  such  great  exploits,  beneath  the  weight 
of  such  massy  coverings.  We  grant  that  rum — tobacco — tea — 
and  some  other  luxuries  of  modern  invention,  have  had  a  large 
share  in  weakening  the  stamina  of  our  constitutions,  and  thus 
producing  a  more  feeble  race  of  men;  yet  we  must  attribute  much 
of  our  great  inferiority  in  strength,  size  and  agility  to  our  fore- 
fathers, to  the  disuse  which  the  invention  of  gun-powder  and 
fire  arms  hath  introduced  of  those  athletic  exercises,  which  were 
so  much  practised  in  former  ages,  as  a  part  of  military  discipline. 

Too  much  cannot  be  said  in  praise  of  swimming,  or  as  the 
poet  of  Avon  expresses  it — "buffeting  the  waves  with  lusty 
sinews."  Besides  exercising  the  limbs,  it  serves  to  wash  away  the 
dust,  which  is  apt  to  mix  itself  with  the  sweat  of  our  bodies  in 
warm  weather.  Washing  frequently  in  water,  we  find,  was  en- 
joined upon  the  Jews  and  Mahometans,  as  a  part  of  their  religious 
ceremonies.  The  Hollanders  are  cleanly  in  their  houses  and 
streets,  without  remembering,  or  perhaps  knowing,  that  cleanli- 
ness was  absolutely  necessary  at  first,  to  guard  against  the  effects 
of  those  inundations  of  mire,  to  which  their  country  is  always 
exposed — so  a  Jew  and  a  Mussulman  contend  for,  and  practise 
their  ablutions,  without  remembering  that  they  were  instituted 
only  to  guard  them  against  those  cutaneous  diseases,  to  which  the 
constant  accumulation  of  scales  upon  their  skins  in  a  warm  cli- 
mate, naturally  exposed  them.  For  the  same  reason,  I  would 
strongly  recommend  the  practice  of  bathing,  and  swimming, 
frequently  in  the  summer  season.  But  remember,  you  should 


ON  MISCELLANEOUS  THINGS  363 

not  stay  too  long  in  the  water  at  one  time,  lest  you  lessen  instead 
of  increasing  the  vigour  of  the  constitution. 

To  all  these  species  of  exercise  which  we  have  mentioned, 
I  would  add,  skeating,  jumping,  also,  the  active  plays  of  tennis, 
bowles,  quoits,  golf,*  and  the  like.  The  manner  in  which  each 
of  these  operate,  may  be  understood  from  what  we  said  under 
the  former  particulars. 

Active  exercise  includes,  in  the  last  place,  talking — reading 
with  an  audible  voice — singing  and  laughing.  They  all  promote 
the  circulation  of  the  blood  thro'  the  lungs,  and  tend  to 
strengthen  those  important  organs,  when  used  in  moderation. 
The  last  has  the  advantage  over  them  all,  inasmuch  as  the  mind 
co-operates  with  it.  May  unfading  laurels  bloom  to  the  latest 
ages  upon  the  grave  of  him  *  *  who  said,  "That  every  time  a  man 
laughs,  he  adds  something  to  his  life." 

I  would  remark  here,  that  all  these  species  of  exercise  which 
we  have  described,  should  be  varied  according  to  age — sex — 
temperament — climate — and  season.  Young  people  stand  in  less 
need  of  exercise  than  old. — Women  less  than  men.  The  natural 
vigour  of  their  constitutions  is  such,  that  they  suffer  least  from 
the  want  of  it.  This  will  explain  the  meaning,  and  show  the 
propriety  of  an  opinion  of  a  modern  Philosopher  f  that  "Women 
only  should  follow  those  mechanical  arts  which  require  a  seden- 
tary life."  But  again,  a  man  who  is  phlegmatic,  requires  more 
frequent  and  violent  exercise  than  he  who  is  of  a  bilious  con- 
stitution: And  lastly,  people  in  warm  climates  and  seasons,  re- 
quire less  than  those  who  live  in  cold.  As  Providence,  by  supply- 

*  Golf  is  an  exercise  which  is  much  used  by  the  Gentlemen  in  Scot- 
land. A  large  common  in  which  there  are  several  little  holes  is  chosen 
for  the  purpose.  It  is  played  with  little  leather  balls  stuffed  with  feathers; 
and  sticks  made  somewhat  in  the  form  of  a  bandy-wicker.  He  who  puts 
a  ball  into  a  given  number  of  holes,  with  the  fewest  strokes,  gets  the 
game.  The  late  Dr.  M'Kenzie,  Author  of  the  Essay  on  Health  and  Long 
Life,  used  to  say,  that  a  man  would  live  ten  years  the  longer  for  using 
this  exercise  once  or  twice  a  week. 
**  Dr.  Sterne. 

t  Rousseau. 


364       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

ing  the  inhabitants  of  warm  climates  with  so  many  of  the  spon- 
taneous fruits  of  the  earth,  seems  to  have  intended  they  should 
labour  less  than  the  inhabitants  of  cold  climates,  so  we  may  infer 
from  this,  that  less  exercise,  which  is  only  a  substitute  for  labour, 
is  necessary  for  them.  The  heat  of  such  climates  is  sufficient  of 
itself  to  keep  up  a  regular  and  due  perspiration.  We  said  in  a 
former  discourse,  that  the  longest  lived  people  were  to  be  found 
in  warm  climates,  and  we  gave  one  conjecture  into  the  cause  of 
it.  It  may  not  be  improper  here  to  add  another.  The  coldness 
of  northern  climates,  from  the  vigour  it  gives  to  the  constitution, 
prompts  to  all  kinds  of  exercise,  which  are  not  always  restrained 
within  proper  bounds.  These,  when  used  to  excess,  wear  out  the 
body.  Thus,  blowing  a  fire,  may  cause  it  to  burn  the  brighter, 
but  it  consumes  it  the  sooner.  The  inhabitants  of  warm  climates 
being  less  prompted  to  these  things,  their  bodies  continue  longer 
unimpaired.  I  confine  this  observation,  as  in  the  former  instance, 
to  the  improved  parts  of  Asia  and  Africa  only.  The  inhabitants 
of  the  West-Indian  islands  are  so  mixed,  and  partake  so  much 
of  the  European  manners,  that  we  cannot  as  yet  include  them 
in  any  general  remarks  which  are  made  upon  this  subject. 

I  come  to  speak  of  those  exercises  which  are  of  a  Passive 
Nature.  These  are  proper  chiefly  for  valetudinarians:  But,  as  I 
intend  these  sermons  should  be  of  use  to  them  as  well  as  the 
healthy,  I  shall  make  a  few  remarks  upon  each  of  them. 

The  life  of  a  Sailor  is  environed  with  so  many  dangers,  that 
Heaven  has  in  compensation  for  them  connected  with  it  an 
exemption  from  many  diseases.  In  vain  do  the  angry  elements 
assault  him.  His  body,  like  some  huge  promontory,  is  proof 
against  them  all.  Notwithstanding  the  dangers  from  shipwreck — 
fire — falling  overboard — and  famine,  to  which  sailors  are  ex- 
posed, I  believe,  that  if  we  were  to  count  an  hundred  sailors,  and 
the  same  number  of  people  on  land,  in  a  place  that  was  ordinarily 
healthy,  we  should  find  more  of  the  former  alive  at  the  end  of 
ten  years  than  the  latter.  The  exercise  of  Sailing  is  constant. 
Every  muscle  is  occasionally  brought  into  exercise  from  the 
efforts  we  make  to  keep  ourselves  from  falling.  These  efforts 


ON  MISCELLANEOUS  THINGS  365 

continue  to  be  exerted  by  the  oldest  sailors,  although  the  con- 
sciousness of  the  mind  in  these,  as  well  as  in  many  other  actions 
we  perform,  is  not  observed  from  the  influence  of  habit.  By 
means  of  this  regular  and  gentle  exercise,  the  blood  is  moved  in 
those  small  capillaries,  where  it  is  most  apt  to  stagnate,  and  per- 
spiration is  increased,  which  is  carried  off  as  fast  as  it  is  discharged 
from  the  body,  by  the  constant  change  of  atmosphere  in  a  ship 
under  sail.  I  say  nothing  here  of  the  benefit  of  the  sea  air,  it 
being  entirely  negative.  Its  virtue  both  at  sea  and  on  the  sea-shore, 
consists  in  nothing  but  its  being  freed  from  those  noxious  animal 
and  vegetable  effluvia,  which  abound  in  the  air,  which  comes 
across  land.  From  what  has  been  said,  you  will  no  longer  be  sur- 
prised at  the  uncommon  appetite  which  some  people  feel  at  sea. 
It  is  owing  to  the  great  and  constant  discharge  of  the  aliment 
(after  it  has  undergone  its  usual  changes)  by  means  of  perspira- 
tion. I  would  recommend  this  species  of  exercise  to  consumptive 
people,  especially  to  sucli  as  labour  under  a  spitting  of  blood. 
Dr.  Lind  tells  us,*  "That  out  of  5741  sailors  who  were  admitted 
into  the  naval  hospital  at  Haslar,  near  Portsmouth,  in  two  years, 
only  360  of  them  had  consumptions,  and  in  one  fourth  of  these, 
(he  says,)  it  was  brought  on  by  bruises  or  falls."  In  the  same 
number  of  hospital  patients,  in  this  or  any  other  country,  I  am 
persuaded  six  times  that  number  would  have  been  consumptive — 
so  much  does  the  gentle  exercise  of  sailing  fortify  the  lungs 
against  all  accidents,  and  determine  the  quantity  and  force  of  the 
fluids  towards  the  surface  of  the  body. 

Riding  in  a  chariot  has  but  few  advantages,  inasmuch  as  we 
are  excluded  from  the  benefit  of  fresh  air;  an  article,  upon  which 
the  success  of  all  kinds  of  exercise  in  a  great  measure  depends. 
It  should  be  used  only  by  such  persons  as  are  unable  to  walk 
or  to  ride  on  horseback.  We  cannot  help  lamenting  here,  that 
those  people  use  this  mode  of  exercise  the  most,  who  stand  in  thfc 
greatest  need  of  a  more  violent  species  of  it. 

Riding  on  horseback  is  the  most  manly  and  useful  species  of 

*  Essay  on  the  means  of  preserving  the  health  of  seamen. 


366       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

exercise  for  gentlemen.  Bishop  Burnet  expresses  his  surprise  at 
the  lawyers  of  his  own  time,  being  so  much  more  long-lived 
(cacteris  paribus)  than  other  people,  considering  how  much  those 
of  them  who  become  eminent  in  their  profession,  are  obliged  to 
devote  themselves  to  constant  and  intense  study.  He  attributes  it 
entirely  to  their  riding  the  circuits  so  frequently,  to  attend  the 
different  courts  in  every  part  of  the  kingdom.  This  no  doubt  has 
a  chief  share  in  it:  But  we  shall  hereafter  mention  another  cause 
which  concurs  with  this,  to  protract  their  lives.  It  may  be  varied 
according  to  our  strength,  or  the  nature  of  our  disorder,  by 
walking — pacing — trotting — or  cantering  our  horse.  All  those 
diseases  which  are  attended  with  a  weakness  of  the  nerves,  such 
as  the  hysteric  and  hypochondriac  disorders,  which  show  them- 
selves in  a  weakness  of  the  stomach  and  bowels — indigestion — 
low  spirits,  &c.  require  this  exercise.  It  should  be  use\l  with  cau- 
tion in  the  consumption,  as  it  is  generally  too  violent,  except  in 
the  early  stage  of  that  disorder.  In  riding,  to  preserve  health, 
eight  or  ten  miles  a  day  are  sufficient  to  answer  all  the  purposes 
we  would  wish  for.  But  in  riding,  to  restore  health,  these  little 
excursions  will  avail  nothing.  The  mind  as  well  as  the  body  must 
be  roused  from  its  languor.  In  taking  an  airing,  as  it  is  called, 
we  ride  over  the  same  ground  for  the  most  part  every  day.  We 
see  no  new  objects  to  divert  us,  and  the  very  consideration  of  our 
riding  for  health  sinks  our  spirits  so  much,  that  we  receive  more 
harm  than  good  from  it.  Upon  this  account  I  would  recommend 
long  journeys  to  such  people,  in  order,  by  the  variety  or  novelty 
of  the  journey  to  awaken  and  divert  the  mind.  Many  people  have 
by  these  means  been  surprised  into  health.  Persons  who  labour 
under  hysteric  or  .epileptic' disorders,  should  be  sent  to  cold; 
those  who  labour  under  hypochondriac  or  consumptive  com- 
plaints should  visit  warm  climates. 

Before  I  finish  this  head  of  our  discourse,  I  shall  add  a  few 
words  concerning  the  exercise  of  the  faculties  of  the  soul.  The 
mind  and  body  have  a  reciprocal  action  upon  each  other.  Are 
our  passions  inflamed  with  desire  or  aversion?  Or  does  our  reason 
trace  out  relations  in  those  things  which  are  the  objects  of  our 


ON  MISCELLANEOUS  THINGS  367 

understanding? — The  body  we  find  is  brought  into  sympathy. 
The  pulse  and  the  circulation  of  the  blood  are  immediately  quick- 
ened. Perspiration  and  the  other  secretions  are  promoted,  and 
the  body  is  sensibly  invigorated  afterwards.  The  body  partakes 
therefore  of  the  torpor  which  the  mind  contracts  by  its  neg- 
lecting to  exercise  its  faculties.  He  must  be  but  little  acquainted 
with  biography,  who  has  not  remarked,  that  such  as  have  dis- 
tinguished themselves  in  the  literary  world,  have  generally  been 
long-lived.  Addison,  Swift,  Locke,  Newton,  Franklin,  with  many 
others  whom  we  might  mention,  all  found  a  retreat  in  the  eve- 
ning of  their  lives  under  the  shade  of  laurels  which  they  had 
planted  in  their  youth.  Perhaps  in  most  cases,  they  might  promise 
themselves  an  exemption  from  diseases,  and  a  death  from  mere 
old  age,  could  they  be  persuaded  to  relinquish  their  midnight 
lamp  before  the  oil  which  feeds  it  was  consumed.  Great  care 
should  be  taken,  however,  to  avoid  too  great  application  of  the 
mind  to  study.  The  most  powerful  medicines  in  nature  are  the 
most  certain  poisons.  Many  promising  geniuses  have  sacrificed 
themselves,  before  they  arrived  at  the  altar  in  the  Temple  of 
Fame.  Such  as  are  in  danger  of  suffering  from  this  cause,  will  do 
well  in  consulting  the  ingenious  and  humane  Dr.  Tissot's  excel- 
lent treatise  upon  the  diseases  of  literary  people.  The  passions 
as  well  as  our  reason,  should  always  be  exercised  as  much  as 
possible.  We  shall  walk — run — dance — swim — fence — sail — and 
ride  to  little  purpose,  unless  we  make  choice  of  an  agreeable 
friend  to  accompany  us.  Solitude  is  the  bane  of  man;  insomuch, 
that  it  is  difficult  to  tell  which  suffers  most,  the  soul  in  its  qualities, 
or  the  body  in  its  temperament,  from  being  alone.  Too  great 
a  concourse  of  people  breeds  diseases.  Too  much  company  is 
destructive  to  cheerfulness.  For  the  sake  of  both  mind  and  body, 
therefore,  we  should  move  in  a  little  circle,  and  let  heaven  cir- 
cumscribe it  for  us.  Let  our  wives  and  children  be  always  around 
us,  or  if  we  are  not  blessed  with  these,  let  a  few  cheerful  friends 
be  our  constant  companions.  It  is  remarked,  that  more  single 
people  die  among  those  who  are  come  to  manhood  than  married, 
and  all  physicians  agree,  that  single  men  and  women,  compose 


368       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

by  far  the  greatest  number  of  their  chronic  patients  among 
adults.  Some  men  may  talk  against  the  cares  of  a  family.  They 
are  unavoidable,  it  is  true,  but  they  are  necessary.  Stagnating 
waters  are  never  sweet.  Thus,  these  little  cares,  by  keeping  the 
tenderer  passions  always  agitated,  prevent  that  uniformity  in 
life,  which  is  so  foreign  and  disagreeable  both  to  the  body  and 
mind.  After  all,  I  believe,  I  shall  have  the  suffrages  of  most  of 
my  hearers,  when  I  add,  that  they  are  at  least  balanced  by  the 
sweets  of  domestic  friendship. 

We  come  now  to  the  next  head  of  our  discourse,  namely, 
II.  To  enquire  into  the  proper  Time  for  Exercise — Sanctorius 
informs  us,*  that  "exercise,  from  the  seventh  to  the  eleventh 
hour  after  earing,  wastes  more  insensibly  in  one  hour,  than  in 
three  at  any  other  time."  If  this  be  true,  then  (supposing  you 
sup  at  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening)  that  exercise  which  is  used 
from  five  'till  seven  o'clock  in  the  morning,  will  promote  the 
greatest  discharge  in  a  given  time,  by  insensible  perspiration.  Such 
as  make  dinner  their  principal  meal,  are  excluded  from  the 
benefit  of  this  aphorism;  as  the  interval,  between  the  seventh  and 
the  eleventh  hour,  with  them  (supposing  they  dine  at  two  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon)  is  from  nine  in  the  evening  'till  one  o'clock 
in  the  morning — a  time,  in  which  darkness,  and  the  unwholesome 
night  air,  forbid  walking — riding — and  almost  every  other  species 
of  manly  exercise  we  have  described. 

I  know  it  will  be  objected  here,  that  we  often  see  labourers 
return,  after  a  full  meal,  to  their  work,  without  feeling  any  in- 
convenience from  it.  This  is  like  the  argument  of  those  who 
recommend  raw  flesh  to  the  human  species,  because  the  strongest 
and  fiercest  animals  in  nature  eat  it.  It  is  because  they  are  so 
fierce  and  so  strong,  that  they  are  able  to  digest  raw  flesh.  In 
like  manner  it  is,  because  these  men  are  naturally  so  strong,  that 
labour  immediately  after  eating  does  not  hurt  them.f  But  let 
me  ask,  whether  you  have  not  observed  such  people  leave  their 
tables  with  reluctance — How  slowly  do  they  return, — and  how 

*  Sect.  V.  Aphorism  vii. 

t  Of  dura  messorum  ilia.  Hor.  Epod.  III. 


ON  MISCELLANEOUS  THINGS  369 

many  excuses  do  they  form  to  loiter  away  a  little  time,  before 
they  renew  their  work. 

But  further — there  is  another  reason  why  I  would  recom- 
mend this  practice  of  eating  the  chief  meal  in  the  evening,  which 
is  indeed  a  little  foreign  to  our  present  subject. — In  a  country 
like  this,  where  the  constant  labour  of  every  individual  is  so 
very  necessary,  the  general  use  of  this  custom  would  add  sev- 
eral hours  to  every  day,  and  thus  have  the  most  beneficial  effects 
upon  the  agriculture — commerce — and  manufactures  of  the 
country,  exclusive  of  its  influence  upon  the  health  of  the  in- 
habitants. 

After  what  has  been  said,  I  need  hardly  add,  that  exercise 
should  never  be  used  with  a  full  stomach.  Persons  who  exercise 
either  to  preserve,  or  restore  health  immediately  after  eating  a 
hearty  meal,  resemble  the  man  "who  fled  from  a  lion,  and  a  bear 
met  him,  and  who  went  into  the  house,  and  leaned  his  hand  upon 
the  wall,  and  a  serpent  bit  him." 

I  come  now  to  the  application  of  this  discourse. 

I  have  endeavoured  in  every  part  of  it,  to  lay  before  you 
the  most  powerful  arguments,  to  excite  you  to  exercise,  and  have 
addressed  them  chiefly  to  that  main  spring  of  human  actions — 
Self  Preservation.  I  have  taught  you  the  true  art  of  alchemy, 
and  furnished  you  with  the  genuine  Philosopher's  stone,  but  with 
this  difference  from  that  which  has  been  sought  for,  by  the 
deluded  pretenders  to  philosophy  in  all  ages,  that  instead  of  con- 
verting, like  Midas,  every  thing  you  touch  into  gold — every 
thing  which  touches  you  shall — not  convert  you  into  gold — but 
impart  health  to  you — compared  with  which,  even  the  gold  of 
Ophir  loses  its  weight.  In  a  word — I  have  showed  you  an  harbour 
where  I  have  anchored  safely  for  many  years;  for,  from  my 
youth  upwards,  I  have  followed  the  mode  of  living  I  have  rec- 
ommended to  you,  as  far  as  my  connections  or  intercourse  with 
the  world  would  admit;  and  although  I  received  from  nature 
a  weakly  constitution,  yet — I  speak  it  with  a  grateful  heart! — 
few  men  enjoy  better  health — none  better  spirits  than  myself; 
and  was  I  now  about  to  leave  the  world,  surrounded  with  a 


37o       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

family  of  children,  I  would  charge  them,  among  the  most  im- 
portant lessons  I  should  give  them,  to  bind  these  things  as 
"a  sign  upon  their  hands,  or  as  frontlets  between  their  eyes" — to 
think  of  them  "when  they  sat  in  their  houses,  and  when  they 
walked  by  the  way — when  they  lay  down,  and  when  they  rose 
up — that  their  days  might  be  multiplied;  and  that  the  days  of 
their  children,  might  be  as  the  days  of  Heaven  upon  the  earth." 

I  shall  conclude  this  discourse  with  a  story,  which  I  hope, 
will  not  be  looked  upon  as  foreign  to  what  has  been  delivered 
upon  this  subject. 

In  the  island  of  Ceylon,  in  the  Indian  Ocean,  a  number  of 
invalids  were  assembled  together,  who  were  afflicted  with  most 
of  the  chronic  diseases,  to  which  the  human  body  is  subject.  In 
the  midst  of  them  sat  several  venerable  figures,  who  amused 
them  with  encomiums  upon  some  medicines,  \Vhich  they  assured 
them  would  afford  infallible  relief  in  all  cases.  One  boasted  of 
an  elixir — another  of  a  powder,  brought  from  America — a  third, 
of  a  medicine,  invented  and  prepared  in  Germany — all  of  which 
they  said  were  certain  antidotes  to  the  gout — a  fourth,  cried  up 
a  nostrum  for  the  vapours — a  fifth,  drops  for  the  gravel — a  sixth, 
a  balsam,  prepared  from  honey,  as  a  sovereign  remedy  for  a  con- 
sumption— a  seventh,  a  pill  for  cutaneous  eruptions — while  an 
eighth  cried  down  the  whole,  and  extolled  a  mineral  water,  which 
lay  a  few  miles  from  the  place  where  they  were  assembled.  The 
credulous  multitude  partook  eagerly  of  these  medicines,  but 
without  any  relief  of  their  respective  complaints.  Several  of  those 
who  made  use  of  the  German  preparation,  were  hurried  sud- 
denly out  of  the  world.  Some  said  their  medicines  were  adul- 
terated— others  that  the  Doctors  had  mistaken  their  disorders — 
while  most  of  them  agreed  that  they  were  much  worse  than  ever. 
While  they  were  all,  with  one  accord,  giving  vent  in  this  man- 
ner, to  the  transports  of  disappointment  and  vexation,  a  clap  of 
thunder  was  heard  over  their  heads.  Upon  looking  up,  a  light  was 
seen  in  the  sky. — In  the  midst  of  this  appeared  the  figure  of 
something  more  than  human — she  was  tall  and  comely — her  skin 
was  fair  as  the  driven  snow — a  rosy  hue  tinged  her  cheeks — 


ON  MISCELLANEOUS  THINGS  371 

her  hair  hung  loose  upon  her  shoulders — her  flowing  robes  dis- 
closed a  shape  which  would  have  cast  a  shade  upon  the  statue  of 
Venus  of  Medicis. — In  her  right  hand  she  held  a  bough  of  an 
evergreen — in  her  left  hand  she  had  a  scroll  of  parchment — she 
descended  slowly,  and  stood  erect  upon  the  earth — she  fixed 
her  eyes,  which  sparkled  with  life,  upon  the  deluded  and  afflicted 
company — there  was  a  mixture  of  pity  and  indignation  in  her 
countenance — she  stretched  forth  her  right  arm,  and  with  a  voice 
which  was  sweeter  than  melody  itself,  she  addressed  them  in 
the  following  language:  "Ye  children  of  men,  listen  for  a  while 
to  the  voice  of  instruction.  Ye  seek  health  where  it  is  not  to  be 
found.  The  boasted  specifics  you  have  been  using,  have  no 
virtues.  Even  the  persons  who  gave  them,  labour  under  many 
of  the  disorders  they  attempt  to  cure.  My  name  is  Hygiaea.  I 
preside  over  the  health  of  mankind.  Descard  all  your  medicines, 
and  seek  relief  from  Temperance  and  Exercise  alone.  Every 
thing  you  see  is  active  around  you.  All  the  brute  animals  in 
nature  are  active  in  their  instinctive  pursuits.  Inanimate  nature 
is  active  too — air — fire — and  water  are  always  in  motion.  Unless 
this  were  the  case,  they  would  soon  be  unfit  for  the  purposes 
they  were  designed,  to  serve  in  the  economy  of  nature.  Shun 
sloth.  This  unhinges  all  the  springs  of  life — fly  from  your  dis- 
eases— they  will  not — they  cannot  pursue  you."  Here  she  ended 
— she  dropped  the  parchment  upon  the  earth — a  cloud  received 
her,  and  she  immediately  ascended,  and  disappeared  from  their 
sight — a  silence  ensued — more  expressive  of  approbation,  than 
the  loudest  peals  of  applause.  One  of  them  approached  with 
reverence  to  the  spot  where  she  stood — took  up  the  scroll,  and 
read  the  contents  of  it  to  his  companions.  It  contained  directions 
to  each  of  them,  what  they  should  do  to  restore  their  health. 
They  all  prepared  themselves  to  obey  the  advice  of  the  heavenly 
vision.  The  gouty  man  broke  his  vial  of  elixir,  threw  his  powders 
into  the  fire,  and  walked  four  or  five  miles  every  day  before 
breakfast.  The  man  afflicted  with  the  gravel  threw  aside  his  drops, 
and  began  to  work  in  his  garden,  or  to  play  two  or  three  hours 
every  day  at  bowles.  The  hypochondriac  and  hysteric  patients 


372       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

discharged  their  boxes  of  assafcetida,  and  took  a  journey  on  horse- 
back to  distant  and  opposite  ends  of  the  island.  The  melancholic 
threw  aside  his  gloomy  systems  of  philosophy,  and  sent  for  a 
dancing  master.  The  studious  man  shut  up  his  folios,  and  sought 
amusement  from  the  sports  of  children.  The  leper  threw  away 
his  mercurial  pills,  and  swam  every  day  in  a  neighbouring  river. 
The  consumptive  man  threw  his  balsam  out  of  his  window,  and 
took  a  voyage  to  a  distant  country.  After  some  months,  they  all 
returned  to  the  place  they  were  wont  to  assemble  in.  Joy  ap- 
peared in  each  of  their  countenances.  One  had  renewed  his  youth 
— another  had  recovered  the  use  of  his  limbs — a  third,  who  had 
been  half  bent  for  many  years,  now  walked  upright — a  fourth 
began  to  sing  some  jovial  song,  without  being  asked — a  fifth 
could  talk  for  hours  together,  without  being  interrupted  with  a 
cough — in  a  word,  they  all  enjoyed  now  a  complete  recovery  of 
their  health.  They  joined  in  offering  sacrifices  to  Hygiaea.  Tem- 
ples were  erected  to  her  memory;  and  she  continues,  to  this  day, 
to  be  worshipped  by  all  the  inhabitants  of  that  island. 


ON     MANNERS 
Excerpts  from  a  Diary  Traveling  Through  France 


NATIONAL  PREJUDICES  arc  of  such  a  nature  that  it  is  seldom  they 
are  entirely  overcome.  We  are  very  apt  to  imagine  everything 
we  see  in  our  own  country  to  be  the  standard  of  what  is  right 
in  taste,  politeness,  customs,  languages  et  cetera,  and  therefore 
we  condemn,  everything  which  differs  from  us.  This  is  a  fruitful 
source  of  error  in  the  opinions  we  form  of  different  nations. 
Thus  much  I  thought  necessary  to  introduce  an  account  of  a 
journey  made  to  a  country  and  among  people  whose  manners  are 
so  very  opposite  to  our  own  that  it  is  no  wonder  we  are  led  (con- 
sidering the  great  partiality  we  have  for  ourselves)  to  condemn 
them  above  most  nations  in  the  world.  We  shall  perhaps  find 
upon  enquiry  that  they  have  many  excellent  things  among  them, 
and  that  they  deserve  to  be  as  much  the  envy  as  the  jest  of  each 
neighboring  state. 

I  set  off  from  London  February  16,  1769,  and  reached  Dover 
the  same  evening.  I  crossed  the  Channel  in  the  night  and  arrived 
next  morn  at  Calais.  From  hence  I  travelled  in  company  with 
two  young  gentlemen  by  land  to  Paris.  There  was  little  variety 
in  this  journey  except  quarrelling  with  tavern  keepers  about  their 
bills,  crowds  of  beggars  in  every  village  (all  of  which  is  extremely 
common  in  France)  can  be  called  variety.  The  country  of  France 
is  extremely  beautiful  and  even  at  this  early  season  of  the  year, 
in  many  places,  it  was  covered  with  verdure.  Few  counties  in 
England  exceed  Picardy  (the  only  province  over  which  I  trav- 
elled), yet  I  am  informed  it  is  one  of  the  poorest  in  France.  It 

373 


374       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

wants  nothing  but  a  greater  plenty  of  water  to  afford  the  richest 
prospect  in  nature.  The  finest  landscapes  in  the  world  without 
this  capital  beauty  of  nature  become  insipid  and  in  a  short  time 
satiate  the  eyes.  There  and  there  indeed  I  saw  fields  covered 
with  water  by  the  hands  of  art,  in  order  to  heighten  the  beauty 
of  several  country  scenes.  But  this  was  but  a  poor  substitute  for 
Rivers  or  Brooks,  since  the  thirst  cannot  be  duly  entertained  with 
it  unless  it  appears  to  be  always  in  motion. 

Paris  is  generally  supposed  to  be  l/z  less  than  London  both  in 
size  and  in  the  number  of  its  inhabitants.  I  cannot  for  my  part 
agree  in  this  calculation,  considering  the  more  oval  figure  of 
Paris,  it  appears  to  cover  as  much  ground  as  London,  which  is 
rather  of  an  elliptical  form  and  considering  the  greater  height 
and  compactness  of  their  houses,  together  with  the  narrowness 
of  their  streets,  I  am  apt  to  think  it  contains  as  many  inhabitants 
as  London  (about  800,000)  especially  when  you  excluded  from 
the  latter  the  vast  number  of  seamen  that  daily  crowd  the  streets, 
who  belong  to  other  countries,  and  who  are  by  no  means  to  be 
ranked  among  the  inhabitants  of  London.  I  shall  begin  my 
account  of  this  city  by  making  a  few  remarks  upon  the  state 
of  the  fine  arts  among  them  and  first  I  shall  take  notice  of  their 
architecture. 

Architecture  is  carried  to  much  greater  perfection  here  than 
in  England.  Their  palaces  are  more  in  number,  and  more  mag- 
nificent in  their  appearance  than  any  building  perhaps  in  the 
whole  world.  Their  churches  impress  the  mind,  with  a  sublime 
kind  of  solemnity,  which  is  easier  to  be  conceived  than  de- 
scribed. The  richness  of  their  altars,  the  grandeur  of  their  images, 
and  the  beauty  of  their  paintings  makes  a  stranger  imagine  he  is 
walking  into  the  Temple  of  Solomon  itself.  The  outside  of 
several  of  their  most  celebrated  palaces  are  notwithstanding  very 
faulty,  in  being  rather  too  uniform,  insomuch  that  no  one  part 
of  them  strikes  the  mind  more  than  another.  In  painting  as  well 
as  poetry,  the  attention  should  always  be  directed  to  some  one 
object,  to  which  every  other  part  of  the  work  should  be  sub- 
servient, Virgil's  Aenead  would  cease  to  please  us,  unless  our 


ON  MISCELLANEOUS  THINGS  375 

eyes  were  kept  constantly  fixed  upon  the  illustrious  hero  of  the 
poem,  nor  would  Milton's  Paradise  Lost  be  in  the  least  enter- 
taining if  our  attention  was  not  perpetually  kept  Up  to  the  fate 
of  Adam. 

The  same  rule  applies  to  architecture,  some  one  pillar  or  piece 
of  statuary  should  always  strike  the  mind  at  first  sight  and  every 
other  part  of  the  building  should  be  inferior  to  it  both  in  beauty 
and  size. 

The  paintings  in  and  about  Paris,  afford  the  highest  enter- 
tainment to  a  man  of  taste.  Here  is  everything  that  is  instructing 
in  portraiture,  history,  poetry,  and  religion  represented  to  the 
very  life.  I  could  dwell  with  pleasure  upon  eight  or  ten  of  them, 
which  detained  me  for  hours  in  viewing  them.  In  a  church 
dedicated  to  the  Virgin  Mary,  is  a  representation  of  a  woman 
dying  with  the  plague,  raised  up  in  her  bed  to  receive  the  sac- 
rament from  the  hands  of  a  priest;  you  imagine  you  see  the 
very  sweat  of  death  upon  her  face,  and  you  cannot  help  sym- 
pathizing in  some  measure  with  her  husband  and  children,  who 
are  weeping  around  her  bed. 

In  the  palace  of  the  Duke  of  Orleans  is  to  be  seen  painted 
in  the  most  masterly  manner,  everything  remarkable  in  the 
History  of  Aeneas,  from  the  destruction  of  Troy  to  his  arrival 
in  Italy.  Nothing  struck  me  more  than  the  moving  story  of 
his  leaving  Dido  at  Carthage.  You  behold  grief  mixed  with 
resentment  in  the  countenance  of  the  queen,  while  Aeneas  ex- 
presses in  every  feature  of  his  face  all  the  passionate  fondness 
of  a  lover,  mingled  at  the  same  time  with  all  that  manly  heroism 
which  the  prospect  of  establishing  a  kingdom  and  being  the 
author  of  an  illustrious  race  of  heroes,  in  a  distant  country 
naturally  fired  his  soul.  Besides  this  I  was  much  struck  with 
several  admirable  pieces  of  Scriptural  history. 

In  the  Palace  of  Luxembourg  is  a  gallery  representing  most 
of  the  memorable  events  in  the  history  of  Henry  the  Fourth  and 
Louis  the  Thirteenth.  The  birth  of  the  latter  is  expressed  to 
the  very  life.  The  little  prince  is  brought  and  presented  to  his 
royal  mother,  Marie  de  Medici,  who  receives  him  with  an  air 


376       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

of  joy  mingled  with  a  degree  of  pain  which  nothing  but  the 
pencil  of  a  Rubens  would  have  captured,  for  this  whole  gallery 
was  filled  by  that  illustrious  painter. 

Statuary  is  another  fine  art,  which  is  cultivated  with  great 
success  in  Paris.  This  art  is  superior  to  the  former  in  resisting 
better  the  strokes  of  time.  'Tis  owing  to  this  that  Rome  even 
to  this  day  allures  strangers  from  all  parts  of  the  world,  there 
as  the  poet  expressed  it: 

"Heroes  in  animated  marble  shoen, 
And  Legislators  seem  to  think  in  stone." 

POPE 

There  Trajan,  Pompey  and  most  of  the  illustrious  genii  of 
Rome  appear  in  all  their  wonted  glory,  and  seem  to  tell  the 
traveller  in  every  feature  of  their  faces,  the  history  of  their  lives 
and  illustrious  actions.  I  have  received  great  pleasure  from  view- 
ing the  statues  of  some  of  the  most  celebrated  men  in  France, 
which  are  to  be  seen  in  most  of  their  public  buildings.  One  piece 
of  sculpture  particularly  struck  me  very  much.  It  was  that  of 
Cardinal  Richelieu,  which  stands  by  a  large  church  founded 
by  himself,  called  the  Church  de  Sorbonne.  He  is  represented 
in  a  dying  posture,  with  his  right  hand  upon  his  breast,  and  in 
his  left  he  holds  all  his  works  which  he  is  offering  to  the  Savior. 
Religion  in  the  form  of  a  beautiful  maid  supports  his  head,  while 
Science  in  the  form  of  another  sits  with  her  robes  ruffled  around 
her  face  and  appears  to  be  inconsolable  for  the  loss  she  was 
about  to  sustain  by  his  death. 

But  even  this  useful  art  has  been  prostitute  in  France.  In 
many  places  you  see  some  of  the  most  absurd  fictions  of  Ovid's 
Metamorphoses,  such  as  women  transformed  into  fishes  and 
other  animals,  and  then  into  trees  represented  in  as  striking  a 
manner  as  if  they  were  facts  of  yesterday  and  believed  by  all 
the  world.  Besides  this  many  of  them  want  that  chastity  which 
we  would  wish  to  find  in  all  civilized,  but  more  especially  in  all 
Christian  countries.  Who  would  expect  to  find  the  Rape  of 
Orythia,  by  Borreau,  in  one  of  the  most  public  walks  of  the  city? 


ON  MISCELLANEOUS  THINGS  377 

Paris,  like  London,  abounds  with  a  number  of  charitable 
institutions  for  the  relief  of  the  sick  and  poor;  the  most  remark- 
able of  these  is  what  is  called  the  Hotel  Dieu  or  the  Hospital 
of  God,  into  which  all  distressed  persons  of  all  religions  and  from 
all  countries  are  received  and  provided  for.  At  some  seasons  it 
contains  8,000  souls.  The  Foundling  Hospital  is  another  ad- 
mirable institution  founded  upon  the  same  plan  as  that  in  London. 
The  day  before  I  saw  it,  1 8  or  20  little  children  were  received 
into  it;  it  is  supposed  one  eighth  of  the  children  born  in  Paris 
are  brought  up  here.  One  reason  why  it  is  so  much  crowded 
is,  that  if  a  woman  brings  forth  a  dead  child  without  first  de- 
claring her  pregnancy,  she  is  burnt  alive;  this  puts  an  entire  stop 
to  child  murder,  and  every  poor  child  of  course  that  is  born  in 
Paris  is  naturally  sent  to  this  hospital;  the  motto  over  the  door 
is  very  a  propos  to  the  condition  of  the  children.  It  is  "Mon 
pere,  et  ma  mere  m'ont  abandonne,  mais  le  Signeur  a  pris  soin 
de  moi."  (My  father  and  my  mother  have  abandoned  me,  but 
the  Lord  hath  taken  care  of  me.) 

In  a  country  like  France,  where  the  belles  lettres  are  culti- 
vated with  so  much  success,  we  might  naturally  expect  to  find 
oratory  much  studied  by  everybody,  that  is  called  upon  to  appear 
in  a  public  character.  Rhetoricians  divide  oratory  into  four  kinds 
— ist  that  of  the  pulpit;  znd  that  of  the  bar;  3rd  that  of  the  popu- 
lar assemblies  and  4th  that  of  the  stage.  The  first  of  these  deserves 
the  particular  notice  of  strangers.  The  preachers  in  general  here 
are  much  more  animated  than  in  any  other  country.  Their 
sermons  abound  with  the  boldest  strokes  of  rhetoric,  as  fre- 
quent apostrophes  or  addresses  to  the  Deity,  or  to  particular 
virtues,  and  in  some  cases  the  very  walls  of  the  churches  in  which 
they  are  preaching.  The  subjects  of  all  the  sermons  I  heard  were 
chiefly  moral.  One  reason  why  the  French  preachers  excell  the 
English  is  that  they  almost  always  commit  their  sermons  to 
memory  and  never  carry  a  written  word  into  the  pulpit  with 
them. 

It  is  impossible  for  a  man  to  speak  well  or  use  the  least  grace- 
ful action,  who  is  closely  confined  to  his  notes.  As  to  the  elo- 


378       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

quence  of  the  bar,  I  can  say  nothing  from  my  own  observation, 
having  never  been  able  to  gain  admittance  into  any  of  their  courts 
of  justice.  All  criminal  trials  are  heard  in  private,  and  it  is  in 
these  chiefly  that  an  orator  has  an  opportunity  of  showing  his 
abilities.  As  to  the  eloquence  of  their  popular  assemblies,  I  believe 
there  is  scarcely  any  remains  of  it  to  be  found  amongst  them. 
The  parliaments  of  France  are  mere  courts  of  justice,  and  have 
no  power  of  any  kind  as  a  legislative  body.  It  is  in  free  countries 
only  that  this  species  of  eloquence  appears  with  all  its  advantages. 
Demosthenes  and  Cicero  lived  in  ages  that  have  ever  since  been 
celebrated  as  the  most  favorable  to  the  liberties  of  mankind.  If 
a  man  dares  in  the  least  to  oppose  the  King's  Arrettes  or  procla- 
mations, he  is  immediately  secluded  from  his  seat  in  Parliament, 
and  banished  from  Paris  during  the  King's  pleasure.  May  we 
never  live  to  see  this  the  case  in  Great  Britain.  There  was  a  time 
when  the  Parliaments  of  France  were  as  free  and  independent 
as  our  own,  but  what  will  not  bribery  and  corruption  accom- 
plish. 

The  last  species  of  eloquence,  namely  that  of  the  stage,  has 
been  much  celebrated  throughout  all  Europe  but  in  my  opinion  it 
is  much  inferior  to  that  of  the  English  stage  in  everything.  Their 
tragedies  are  all  written  in  rhyme.  How  very  ridiculous  must  it 
appear,  to  hear  a  husband  lamenting  the  death  of  a  wife  in  all 
the  harmony  of  verse?  Besides  this,  so  fond  are  the  French  of 
humor  in  all  their  dramatic  performances  that  I  once  saw  a 
woman  after  having  taken  leave  of  her  children,  with  an  inten- 
tion to  destroy  herself  after  weeping  in  so  pathetic  a  manner 
as  to  oblige  the  whole  audience  to  weep  with  her  suddenly  dis- 
sipate all  their  tears  and  raise  a  universal  laughter  by  a  piece  of 
low  wit  which  had  no  connection  with  the  subject  of  the  tragedy. 
Their  comedies,  in  general,  are  much  better  than  the  English. 
All  kinds  of  buffoonery  are  excluded  from  them.  They  abound 
in  more  sentiments  and  are  for  the  most  part  designed  only  to 
expose  living  vices  and  not  living  characters.  I  never  read  a  French 
comedy  in  my  life  that  had  even  a  double  entendre  in  it,  very 
different  is  the  character  of  most  of  our  English  comedies.  A 


ON  MISCELLANEOUS  THINGS  379 

foreigner  once  said  of  them;  that  the  "Conscious  Lovers"  was 
the  only  English  comedy  he  had  ever  seen,  that  was  not  much 
fitter  to  be  acted  in  a  brothel  than  upon  an  English  stage. 

The  ladies  in  Paris  in  general  are  very  beautiful.  Their  easi- 
ness of  behavior,  their  sprightliness  and  apparent  good  humor, 
give  additional  charm  to  their  persons.  Much  however  of  their 
beauty  is  borrowed  from  art;  I  mean  painting.  This  fashion  pre- 
vails so  much  in  Paris,  that  the  ladies  take  no  pains  to  conceal  it. 
It  is  very  common  to  see  them  take  out  a  little  box  of  paint  which 
they  always  carry  in  their  pockets,  together  with  a  small  looking- 
glass,  and  a  fine  pencil,  and  daub  their  cheeks  over  in  their 
coaches,  when  they  are  going  out  to  an  Assembly  or  any  public 
entertainment.  This  practice  of  painting  however  is  far  from 
being  general  as  some  have  reported,  being  confined  chiefly  to 
ladies  of  quality. 

Much  has  been  said  of  the  want  of  delicacy  in  the  French 
ladies.  The  freedom  of  their  behavior,  their  using  certain  expres- 
sions in  conversation  which  are  looked  upon  as  indelicate  in  other 
countries,  and  above  all  their  admitting  gentlemen  to  pay  them 
morning  visits  in  their  bed  chambers  have  all  been  urged  as 
arguments  to  support  the  justness  of  the  censure.  For  my  part 
I  am  far  from  agreeing  in  the  common  opinion,  which  is  enter- 
tained of  the  propriety  or  impropriety  of  these  things.  What  is 
looked  upon  as  decent  in  one  country,  is  often  condemned  as 
highly  indecent  in  another. 

I  have  heard  some  Scotch  ladies  (who  are  remarkable  for  their 
delicacy  in  most  things)  make  use  of  expressions  in  public  com- 
panies which  I  should  blush  to  have  repeated.  Had  I  expressed 
the  same  ideas  they  did,  in  the  language  I  had  always  been  used 
to  in  my  own  country,  it  is  probable  they  would  have  blushed 
much  more,  to  have  heard  them  and  perhaps,  have  condemned 
me  for  a  want  of  delicacy  in  their  company.  In  Turkey,  no 
woman  is  ever  looked  upon  as  virtuous,  who  has  been  seen 
dancing  with  a  man.  In  England  and  in  many  other  countries  we 
see  this  custom  practised  withoyt  detracting  in  the  least  from 
the  character  of  a  lady. 


380       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

I  am  far  from  thinking  a  lady's  virtue  should  be  called  in 
question,  who  receives  a  gentleman  in  her  bed-chamber,  nor  can 
I  see  wherein  the  difference  consists,  between  seeing  a  lady  in 
her  ordinary  dress  and  under  a  pile  of  bed  clothes — much  more 
of  the  body  is  exposed  in  the  former  case  (even  by  our  most 
delicate  English  ladies)  than  in  the  latter.  Upon  the  whole  I 
cannot  help  concluding  that  there  is  as  much  real  virtue  among 
the  ladies  of  France  asv  among  the  women  of  any  other  country 
in  the  world.  Too  much  cannot  be  made  of  their  accomplish- 
ments of  other  kinds:  a  well-bred  woman  here  is  one  of  the 
most  entertaining  companions  in  the  world. 

'Tis  not  enough  for  her  to  understand  the  duties  of  domestic 
life,  she  extends  her  enquiries  much  further,  and  never  thinks 
her  education  complete  till  she  has  acquired  some  general  knowl- 
edge of  the  principles  of  geography,  philosophy,  and  belles 
lettres,  etc.  In  spite  of  all  the  commonplace  declamation  against 
women's  reading  and  women's  learning,  I  cannot  help  thinking 
that  some  of  the  above  accomplishments  add  much  to  the  native 
charms  of  a  woman,  and  render  her  in  every  respect  a  more 
agreeable  companion  to  a  man  of  sense.  If  a  sympathy  of  affec- 
tions only  gives  such  a  degree  of  happiness  in  the  married  state, 
how  much  greater  might  it  be  were  there  always  a  sympathy 
of  understanding  going  with  it?  A  common  objection  to  learn- 
ing in  women  is,  that  it  makes  them  vain,  but  were  their  educa- 
tion more  attended  to,  and  a  little  knowledge  in  the  fine  arts 
more  common  among  them,  it  would  in  a  short  time  destroy 
that  preeminence  in  a  few  which  is  the  chief  cause  of  their 
vanity. 

It  remains  now  that  I  say  a  few  words  concerning  the  re- 
ligion of  France.  Everybody  knows  that  popery  is  established 
here  by  law.  The  number  of  Protestants  or  Hugonots,  as  they 
were  called  at  the  reformation,  were  supposed  to  compose  ]/z 
of  the  inhabitants  of  France  but  since  the  great  massacre  in  the 
year  1572,  and  since  the  Revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes, 
by  Louis  XIV  their  number  is  very  much  diminished.  The  men 
of  learning  and  taste  (who  are  too  apt  to  take  the  Church  of 


ON  MISCELLANEOUS  THINGS  381 

Rome,  with  all  its  absurdities,  for  the  true  Christian  Church)  in 
general  profess  themselves  Deists.  This  must  always  be  the 
case  in  those  countries  where  all  freedom  of  enquiry  in  religious 
matters  is  checked  by  law.  The  many  artful  attacks  which  have 
been  made  upon  Christianity  by  the  Deistical  writers  in  Eng- 
land instead  of  lessening  its  credibility  have  tended  rather  to 
establish  it  by  drawing  forth  some  of  the  most  learned  publica- 
tions in  its  defense  which  have  ever  appeared  upon  any  subjects 
whatever. 

Were  the  clergy  in  France  less  numerous,  less  powerful  and 
less  rich,  we  might  hope  that  the  rapid  progress  in  learning  and 
those  arts  which  enlarge  and  unfetter  the  human  mind  have 
made  among  them  would  alone  be  sufficient  to  overthrow  the 
established  religion.  But  this  never  can  be  the  case,  while  a  city 
like  Paris  contains  10,000  priests,  while  they  are  the  first  and 
constant  companions  of  each  succeeding  prince,  and  while  they 
have  l/z  of  all  the  land  in  the  kingdom  in  their  possession. 

I  was  led  once  to  visit  a  monastery  at  a  place  called  St.  Dennis 
(about  6  miles  from  Paris).  There  several  hundred  monks  were 
shut  up  and  lived  together  under  one  roof.  I  went  to  their  chapel 
which  adjoined  their  monastery,  and  heard  them  say  mass.  Some 
of  them  were  grey-headed,  others  bald  with  age.  There  was 
something  melancholy  in  seeing  such  a  number  of  them  alone 
at  their  devotions.  I  followed  them  from  the  chapel  after  mass 
was  over  into  the  monastery.  Instead  of  sitting  down  and  eating 
and  drinking  or  talking  together,  they  parted  in  a  large  hall, 
where  each  one  went  into  his  own  private  apartment.  I  could 
hardly  bear  to  think  of  the  gloomy  manner  in  which  each  of 
them  passed  the  remaining  part  of  the  evening.  Heavens!  thought 
I — such  a  religion  must  be  unworthy  of  God,  and  unfit  for  men, 
which  dissolves  his  ties  with  society,  and  obliges  him  to  pas^ 
through  the  world  a  stranger  to  the  tender  names  of  husband- 
father-friend.  Religion  does  not  forbid  us  the  enjoyment  of  any 
of  the  good  things  in  life.  It  only  teaches  us  to  enjoy  them  in 
the  devotion,  and  in  subordination  to  better  things. 

I  left  this  solitary  asylum  of  indolent  and  cowardly  piety  >  if 


382       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

it  deserves  the  name  of  piety,  with  a  heart  filled  with  pity  and 
disgust,  and  could  not  help  repeating  to  myself  that  inimitable 
passage  in  one  of  Dr.  Stern's  Sermons  upon  Mortification  in 
which  he  says,  A  good  heart  wants  something  to  be  kind  to.  Let 
the  torpid  monk  seek  heaven  comfortless  and  alone.  God  speed 
him!  I  fancy  I  never  should  so  find  the  way.  Let  me  have  a 
companion  in  my  journey  be  it  only  to  remark  to — how  are 
shadows  lengthening  as  the  sun  goes  down — to  whom  I  may 
say —  How  fresh  is  the  face  of  nature?  How  sweet  the  flowers 
of  the  field?  How  delicious  are  these  fruits? 

The  nunneries,  where  young  women  only  are  confined,  are 
never  visited  by  the  men,  so  I  could  only  view  them  at  a  dis- 
tance, or  at  best  peep  through  the  gates  of  their  apartments, 
while  they  were  at  worship.  The  number  of  nuns  in  and  around 
Paris  is  very  great,  those  who  retire  into  nunneries  for  the  sake 
of  religion  compose  by  far  the  smaller  share  of  them.  Men  with 
small  fortunes  generally  contrive  to  get  their  daughters  off  their 
hands,  by  persuading  them  to  take  the  veil.  ...  If  they  are 
unable  to  do  this,  their  eldest  sons,  when  they  come  to  take 
possession  of  their  fathers'  estates,  seldom  fail  of  accomplishing 
it,  in  order  to  free  the  estate  from  the  incumbrance  of  a  small 
jointure,  which  is  allowed  them.  This  unnatural  practice  is  not 
peculiar  to  France,  but  is  common  to  all  Roman  Catholic  coun- 
tries, especially  where  the  civil  law  (which  provides  so  care- 
fully for  eldest  sons)  is  in  force. 

What  shall  I  say  of  the  politeness  of  the  French  nation? 
Politeness  has  its  seat  in  the  heart  only,  and  if  an  assemblage  of 
good  qualities,  are  necessary  to  constitute  it,  then  the  French 
people  possess  no  more  of  it  than  many  other  nations  of  Europe. 
But  if  it  consists  in  giving  as  little  pain  and  as  much  pleasure 
as  possible,  to  everybody  around  us  as  well  as  in  saying  and 
doing  everything  with  a  graceful  manner,  then  the  French  have 
a  right  to  lay  claim  to  that  character,  above  all  the  nations  of 
the  world.  It  is  true  that  many  of  their  expressions  of  civility  and 
respect  are  counterfeit,  such  as  "I  am  transported  to  see  you" — "I 


ON  MISCELLANEOUS  THINGS  383 

am  charmed  with  the  company"  and  "I  have  the  honor  to  be  your 
very  humble  servant."  But  even  these  expressions  serve  to  keep 
up  a  little  ceremony  in  company,  which  is  absolutely  necessary, 
to  make  conversation  agreeable  and  instructing.  Although  they 
have  no  value  in  themselves,  yet  they  serve  as  pieces  of  money 
in  trade,  as  a  medium  of  intellectual  commerce  among  mankind. 

Where  men  mix  much  together,  as  they  are  obliged  to  do 
in  all  large  towns  a  familiarity  would  be  produced  which  would 
soon  destroy  all  good  manners,  were  they  not  to  keep  one  an- 
other at  a  little  distance  by  these  formal  and  seemingly  unmean- 
ing modes  of  addressing  each  other.  They  lay  a  restraint  upon 
their  passions,  or  at  least  they  teach  them  to  vent  them  in  such 
a  manner  that  they  seldom  give  much  uneasiness  or  offence. 
Where  men  meet  together  often,  and  neglect  these  little  for- 
malities, however  diversified  by  education  or  religion  they  may 
be,  we  generally  find  they  degenerate  into  rudeness,  which 
seldom  fails  of  ending  in  disputes,  quarrels  and  the  like. 

Much  contempt  and  ridicule  have  been  thrown  upon  the 
French  nation  upon  the  account  of  the  singularity  of  their  dress. 
To  suppose  that  the  whole  nation  was  composed  of  nothing 
but  fops  and  coxcombs,  would  be  to  allow  them  too  large  a  pro- 
portion of  the  follies  of  the  rest  of  the  world,  and  to  suppose 
that  every  man  who  carries  a  sword  or  umbrella  or  wears  a  muff 
feels  a  pride  in  these  useless  appendages  to  his  dress,  would  be 
to  admit  of  a  union  between  pride  and  poverty  in  some  cases, 
between  pride  and  good  sense  which  is  rarely  to  be  met  with 
in  other  countries.  We  shall  in  a  little  time  trace  the  origin  of 
this  singularity  in  the  dress  of  a  Frenchman,  and  shall  find 
perhaps,  that  pride  and  vanity  have  but  a  very  inconsiderable 
share  in  producing  it. 

There  is  nothing  the  French  nation  is  more  to  be  envied  for 
than  the  knightliness  of  their  manners,  or  their  knowledge  in 
what  they  call  L'art  de  vivre,  or  the  art  of  living.  With  a  much 
smaller  share  of  ordinary  blessings  of  life,  than  many  of  their 
neighbors  possesss,  they  appear  always  cheerful  and  happy.  Pov- 


384       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

erty  and  slavery  to  a  Frenchman  are  but  imaginary  evils.  They 
cultivate  the  Social  Principle  and  household  arts  to  which  Eng- 
lishmen are  strangers. 

Everything  which  tends  to  bring  the  sexes  together,  tends 
at  the  same  time  to  increase  all  the  pleasures  of  society.  Men 
when  they  associate  much  with  each  other  become  rough  and 
unpolished;  women  from  the  same  practice  become  trifling  or 
disagreeable,  but  by  mingling  together  they  mutually  polish  and 
improve  one  another.  In  England  the  sexes  meet  only  at  assem- 
blies, plays  and  other  places  of  public  entertainment.  Here  every- 
thing is  conducted  with  ceremony  which  forbids  conversation, 
or  if  this  is  laid  aside,  it  is  only  for  the  sake  of  introducing  cards, 
which  will  more  effectively  put  a  stop  to  all  kinds  of  improve- 
ment of  conversation.  In  France  the  sexes  besides  meeting  at 
the  above  places  have  frequent  select  meetings  which  they  call 
coteries.  Here  ladies  and  gentlemen  meet  only  to  talk  upon 
subjects  in  science.  Here  they  forget  their  little  domestic  cares 
and  amuse  one  another  with  their  remarks  upon  the  news,  poli- 
tics, witty  sayings,  books  and  events  of  the  past  day  or  week. 
There  is  nothing  stiff  or  reserved  in  these  companies.  Some- 
times they  all  listen  to  one  person  speaking;  at  other  times  they 
all  form  themselves  into  little  parties.  Some  of  them  sit,  some 
stand  and  walk  up  and  down  without  any  restraint. 

I  had  the  pleasure  of  belonging  to  a  society  of  this  kind, 
which  met  at  Marquis  de  Mirabeau's,  a  nobleman  of  great  merit, 
who  has  lately  distinguished  himself  by  writing  some  excellent 
pieces,  upon  the  finances,  agriculture,  commerce  and  politics  of 
France.  He  calls  himself  in  this  work  Uwni  des  homrnes  or  "A 
friend  of  mankind." 

Nothing  pleased  me  more  in  this  society  than  the  behavior 
of  the  ladies.  They  were  the  umpires  of  all  disputes.  To  them 
all  the  conversation  was  addressed,  and  a  gentleman  was  listened 
to  with  more  or  less  pleasure,  according  as  he  seemed  to  enter- 
tain them.  The  many  judicious  remarks  and  answers  they  gave 
to  what  was  said  and  the  very  agreeable  manner  in  which  they 
interested  themselves  in  everything  carried  on  showed  how  well 


ON  MISCELLANEOUS  THINGS  385 

they  were  qualified  for  the  part,  and  entitled  to  the  respect  which 
was  shown  them  in  this  society. 

It  is  here  a  proper  place  to  enquire  into  the  causes  which  con- 
stitute the  differences  between  the  manners  of  a  Frenchman 
and  an  Englishman.  For  the  most  part  the  vivacity  of  the  French 
nation  has  been  attributed  to  their  climate  and  manner  of  living. 
But  this  in  my  opinion  has  but  a  small  share  in  forming  their 
characters.  This  may  be  easily  proved,  ist  from  their  differing 
widely  from  the  ancient  Gauls  who  lived  in  the  same  climate, 
and  2nd  from  their  retaining  their  own  peculiar  manners  in  all 
countries,  more  especially  in  the  warm  climates  of  the  East  and 
West  Indies.  Further,  if  their  manners  were  entirely  formed  by 
their  climate  or  manner  of  living  we  should  always  find  the 
same  manners  in  parallel  latitudes,  and  where  the  same  methods 
of  living  took  place.  But  this  we  know  is  far  from  being  the 
case.  The  peculiarity  of  their  manners  must  therefore  be  re- 
solved into  imitation.  This  we  prove  from  the  great  facility  with 
which  Englishmen  contract  their  manners  when  in  Paris.  Chance 
at  first  probably  gave  a  sanction  to  them,  and  this  has  through 
time  operated  with  all  the  force  of  a  law,  insomuch  that  at 
present  to  deviate  from  them  is  to  be  singular  and  of  consequence 
to  be  ridiculous. 

Before  I  conclude  the  account  of  manners  of  the  French 
nation,  I  shall  make  a  little  digression  and  point  out  a  striking 
resemblance  in  many  things  between  the  manners  and  customs 
of  the  French  and  of  most  savage  nations,  particularly  the  In- 
dians, in  North  America.  Civilians  divide  mankind  into  3  classes; 
savage,  barbarous  and  civilized.  The  Savage  lives  by  fishing  and 
hunting;  the  Barbarous  by  pasturage  and  the  spontaneous  fruits 
of  the  earth,  and  the  civilized  by  agriculture.  There  is  a  certain 
chain  which  connects  each  of  these  classes  together,  so  that  they 
appear  to  be  different  parts  of  one  circle. 

All  extremes  meet  in  a  point.  The  highest  degrees  of  civiliza- 
tion border  a  good  deal  upon  savage  life.  This  we  shall  illustrate 
by  mentioning  a  few  of  those  customs  in  which  the  French 
nation,  perhaps  the  most  civilized  in  the  whole  world,  resembles 


3  86       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

Indians  or  savages.  First  they  possess  the  most  perfect  free- 
dom in  their  behavior  and  like  the  savages  are  strangers  to  every 
thing  which  looks  like  restraint  in  their  intercourse  with  each 
other.  This  is  the  case  in  a  more  especial  manner  in  that  inter- 
course which  subsists  between  the  sexes.  We  before  reconciled 
the  seeming  indelicacy  of  the  modes  of  expression  and  behavior 
of  the  French  ladies  in  the  company  of  gentlemen  with  the  strict- 
est regard  to  virtue.  The  Women  among  savage  nations  know 
nothing  of  the  arts  of  concealing  those  wants  and  necessities 
to  which  their  sex  has  subjected  them,  from  my  knowledge  of 
them,  nor  are  they  acquainted  with  any  mode  of  expressing 
them,  and  yet  no  one  has  ever  pretended,  from  these  circum- 
stances alone,  to  call  their  modesty  or  virtue  in  question. — There 
are  instances  of  some  savage  nations,  among  whom  these  things, 
are  looked  upon  as  innocent,  who  never  fail  to  punish  adultery 
and  other  cases  of  a  want  of  chastity  in  the  severest  manner. 

Secondly.  The  French  Nation,  are  particularly  fond  of 
Painting  (their  faces).  This  is  a  question  which  prevails  chiefly 
among  Savages.  Among  these  it  was  introduced  partly  to  defend 
the  Race  from  the  inclemency  of  the  weather,  and  partly  to  add 
to  its  Beauty.  It  is  used  among  the  French  People  chiefly  to 
answer  the  latter  Purpose.  I  know  it  is  condemned  by  most  of 
the  civilized  nations  in  Europe.  But  I  am  far  from  thinking  that 
common  objections  made  to  it,  have  any  weight.  No  one  will 
pretend  to  say  that  the  works  of  Nature,  are  so  perfect,  as  to  be 
incapable  of  receiving  any  Improvements  from  Art.  Flowers, 
Fields,  Forrests  and  Prospects  of  all  Kinds,  all  receive  new 
Beauties  from  the  Hand  of  Cultivation.  No  one  thinks  it  a  crime 
to  improve  the  air,  and  figure  of  the  human  body  by  dancing, 
dress  and  the  like.  Why  should  it  be  thought  criminal  then,  to 
attempt  to  improve  its  Beauty  in  Painting?  A  mixture  of  red 
and  white  forms  the  most  beautiful  contrast  of  colours  in  the 
world.  The  face  was  formed  with  this  beautiful  mixture  of 
colours,  originally  by  nature.  We  see  it  even  yet  in  those  who 
have  not  lost  it  by  sickness  or  exposure  to  the  air. 

Painting  of  cheeks  therefore  with  vermillion  is  only  imitating 


ON  MISCELLANEOUS  THINGS  387 

Nature,  and  notwithstanding  all  that  has  been  said  against  it, 
adds  much  to  its  beauty.  If  an  inseparable  connection  is  estab- 
lished in  Nature,  between  such  a  mixture  of  colours,  and  a 
pleasure  in  the  imagination,  I  see  no  harm  in  giving  or  increasing 
this  pleasure  by  every  innocent  means,  which  lies  in  our 
power. 

Thirdly,  the  French  people  eat  their  principal  meal  at  night. 
A  family  is  seldom  convened  for  this  purpose  until  the  evening. 
They  go  to  their  closets  as  often  as  they  are  impelled  by  hunger, 
and  eat  and  drink  some  light  matter,  which  satisfy  them  till 
8  or  9  o'clock  at  night.  This  is  in  some  measure  the  custom  among 
the  Indians.  They  take  but  one  principal  meal  in  the  24  hours, 
which  is  for  the  most  part  at  night,  after  the  fatigue  of  hunting, 
fishing,  or  marching  in  time  of  War  are  over.  This  practice  how- 
ever much  it  may  be  condemned  by  some  is  an  appeal  among 
civilized  nations,  from  the  tyranny  of  custom  to  the  unerring 
law  of  Nature.  It  is  always  most  wholesome  to  sleep  after  eating. 
This  is  the  practice  of  all  the  brute  animals,  we  are  acquainted 
with.  Nature  recoils  from  business  of  all  kinds,  after  a  hearty 
meal,  nor  is  this  to  be  wondered  at,  when  we  consider  that  the 
digestion  of  the  food  in  the  stomach,  is  carried  on  chiefly  by 
fermentation,  to  which  Rest  we  know  contributes  so  much,  that 
no  fermentation  can  be  compleat  without  it. 

Fourthly,  The  People  of  Rank  and  Fortune  among  the 
French,  are  particularly  fond  of  Fishing  and  Hunting.  Those  are 
their  principal  amusements.  Everybody  knows  that  it  is  by  means 
of  these,  that  all  savage  nations  support  themselves.  As  the 
greatest  part  of  Mankind  have  been  or  are  still  savage,  Nature 
has  implanted  in  them  a  love  for  these  employments,  and  how- 
ever much  it  may  be  restrained,  there  are  few  who  have  not  at 
some  time  of  their  lives  felt  the  force  of  this  Passion.  The  Noble- 
man who  drives  the  boar  from  his  den,  or  chases  the  stag  across 
his  woods,  or  draws  the  fish  from  his  ponds  differs  from  the 
Indian  only  in  doing  these  things  for  his  pleasure,  while  the  latter 
is  obliged  to  follow  them  for  his  support.  There  is  no  life  so 
agreeable  as  that  of  the  savage.  It  is  frefe  and  independent,  and 


3  88       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

in  this  consists  the  highest  happiness  of  Man.  When  he  is  re- 
moved from  it  he  is  perpetually  striving  to  get  back  to  it  again. 

The  stages  in  society  are  like  those  in  human  life.  A  man 
is  to  be  "once  a  man  arid  twice  a  child."  So  it  is  with  him  in 
respect  to  Society.  He  is  once  civilized  and  when  left  to  follow 
the  bent  of  his  inclination  will  never  fail  of  becoming  twice  a 
Savage. 

Fifthly.  There  is  one  more  custom,  in  which  I  observed  the 
French  People  to  resemble  the  Savage  and  that  is,  they  seldom 
address  one  another  by  their  proper  names,  but  for  the  most 
part  by  the  titles  of  "Madame"  or  "Monsieur."  It  is  no  uncom- 
mon thing  for  a  Frenchman,  when  called  by  his  name  in  com- 
pany to  say  "Sir  I  am  much  obliged  to  you  for  putting  me  in 
mind  of  my  name,  but  I  assure  you,  I  had  not  forgot  it."  I  must 
here  add  to  this  remark,  that  I  have  observed  the  best  people  in 
all  parts  of  the  World,  call  one  another  by  their  names  as  seldom 
as  possible  in  company.  I  am  at  a  loss  to  point  out  the  foundation 
of  this  custom  in  Nature. 

We  observe  however  something  like  it  in  the  Indians  of 
North  America.  They  call  one  another  so  seldom  by  their  names, 
that  some  have  supposed  they  have  none,  as  they  are  all  divided 
into  little  tribes,  which  marry  within  themselves,  they  become 
in  time  related  in  such  a  manner  to  each  other,  that  they  call 
one  another  for  the  most  part,  by  a  name  which  is  expressive  of 
some  of  their  relations,  such  as  Father,  Mother,  Sister,  Brother 
and  Cousin.  The  last  of  these  is  a  term,  which  they  use  in  general 
to  those  whose  relationship  is  too  distant  to  be  traced.  This 
custom  among  the  Indians,  I  know  has  been  urged  (with  many 
other  arguments)  to  prove  that  the  Indians  are  descended  from 
one  of  the  Jewish  Tribes.  The  Jews  we  find  were  fond  of 
addressing  each  other  in  this  manner.  Hence  we  find  Abraham 
say  to  Lot,  We  are  Brethren  whereas  he  was  only  his  nephew.  So 
Jacob  tells  Rachel,  that  he  was  her  Fathers  Brother,  when  we  are 
sure  no  such  relationship,  (in  the  common  acceptation  of  that 
word)  subsisted  between  them. 

But  this  custom  is  far  from  being  confined  to  the  Indians 


ON  'MISCELLANEOUS  THINGS  389 

in  North  America:  It  prevails  among  many  of  the  Savage  Negroes 
in  Africa.  It  must  therefore  have  some  foundation  in  Nature. 
We  naturally  call  those  whom  we  love,  by  some  name  expressive 
of  that  love  or  respect.  A  man  calls  his  wife  his  dear  and  his 
children  his  little  darlings  and  the  like.  A  countryman  brought 
up  at  a  distance  from  those  places,  where  the  forms  of  politeness 
are  kept  up,  naturally  accosts  a  Person  whom  he  thinks  his 
superior,  or  who  fills  some  office  by  a  Title  which  supposes 
him  to  possess  some  quality  above  himself,  such  as  Honour, 
Excellency,  Grace,  Highness  and  the  like. 

These  little  things,  however  trifling  they  appear  to  some, 
tend  to  preserve  an  harmony  and  good  order  among  the  different 
Ranks  of  Mankind,  which  are  absolutely  necessary  to  keep  up 
the  happiness  and  well  being  of  Society. 

As  my  time  was  closely  employed  all  the  while  I  was  in  Paris, 
I  had  but  little  leisure  to  make  excursions  in  the  Country. 
Versailles  was  the  most  remarkable  place  near  Paris,  that  I  went 
to  see.  I  found  the  gardens,  palaces,  painting  and  statuary.  To 
answer  the  description  I  had  of  them,  it  would  take  up  a 
volume  to  give  a  particular  account  of  every  thing  I  saw  here, 
that  was  beautiful  or  grand.  I  shall  confine  myself  only  to  an 
account  of  the  Royal  Family,  who  reside  chiefly  in  this  Palace. 

I  arrived  at  Versailles  about  n  o'clock  in  the  forenoon  in 
company  with  several  English  gentlemen.  I  went  immediately 
into  the  Roy  all  Chapel  which  adjoins  the  Palace  where  we  had 
a  full  view  of  his  Majesty  at  his  Devotion.  He  is  between  59 
and  60  years  of  age,  but  looks  so  well  that  no  one  would  take 
him  to  be  above  45.  His  behaviour  during  the  whole  service  was 
serious,  and  respectful.  After  Mass  was  over  we  went  to  see 
the  Dauphin  and  the  rest  of  the  Royal  Family  dine  in  Public. 
The  Dauphin  is  between  15  and  16  years  of  age,  and  tho'  so 
young  is  arrived  at  his  full  growth. 

We  generally  watch  with  impatience,  the  openings  of  the 
minds  of  those  persons,  who  are  born  to  fill  important  stations 
in  Life.  We  admire  every  prelude  they  give  us  of  Genius,  and  this 
in  some  measure  from  their  early  behaviour,  draw  the  character 


39o       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

they  will  sustain  thru'  life.  Was  I  to  judge  from  the  appearance 
of  the  Dauphin  of  France,  I  should  declare,  that  he  was  formed 
on  purpose  to  show  the  world  of  how  little  value  Crowns,  and 
Kingdoms  are  in  the  sight  of  Heaven,  or  he  would  never  have  a 
right  to  succeed  to  either  of  them.  He  is  remarkably  coarse 
featured — stoops  in  his  shoulders,  has  a  brown  skin,  and  is  very 
awkward  in  every  respect.  When  he  first  came  out  to  Dinner, 
he  sat  down  without  speaking  to  anybody.  Several  gentlemen 
and  ladies  who  came  occasionally  into  the  room  went  up  and 
bowed  to  him,  but  he  took  no  notice  of  them. 

But  this  was  far  from  being  the  most  brutish  part  of  his  be- 
haviour. During  the  time  of  dinner,  he  took  a  piece  of  meat 
from  his  mouth,  which  he  had  been  chewing  and  after  looking 
at  it  for  some  time  in  the  presence  of  near  i  oo  spectators,  threw 
it  under  the  table.  I  found  upon  inquiry,  that  heTiad  never  given 
the  least  proofs  of  forwardness  in  anything,  and  that  by  his 
preceptions  and  the  people  around  him,  and  is  regarded  only  as 
a  prodigy  of  dullness — for  all  Princes  according  to  Dean  Swift, 
are  prodigies  of  some  sort.  Very  different  is  the  character  of  the 
Count  TfArto\sy  his  youngest  brother  who  sat  at  his  left  hand. 
He  is  about  1 2  years  of  age,  but  has  already,  the  behaviour  of  a 
man.  I  think  he  is  the  handsomest  form,  I  ever  saw  in  my  life. 
Everybody  is  charmed  with  him.  Everybody  speaks  with  admi- 
ration of  the  pregnancy  of  his  genius,  of  his  great  love  for  every 
thing  that  is  noble  or  princely.  So  much  was  I  pleased  with  his 
appearance,  that  I  could  not  help  saying  to  one  of  my  com- 
panions, who  stood  by  me,  that  I  should  not  be  surprised  to  hear 
hereafter,  that  this  little  Prince  directed  the  Counsels,  or  led  the 
Armies  of  France  all  over  the  World.  The  King's  Daughters 
dined  in  a  private  apartment  by  themselves,  to  which  I  was  like- 
wise admitted.  They  had  nothing  remarkable  about  them,  except 
it  was  a  prodigious  quantity  of  paint  upon  their  cheeks,  which 
was  still  insufficient  .to  conceal  their  ages,  or  to  supply  the  want 
of  that  Beauty  which  Nature  had  denied  them. 

I  have  nothing  particular  to  say  of  the  King  of  France.  He 
appears  to  be  alike  incapable  of  doing  either  good  or  harm.  Most 


ON  MISCELLANEOUS  THINGS  391 

of  his  time  is  spent  in  Hunting,  or  with  his  mistress.  Let  such 
as  maintain  the  Divine  Right  of  Kings  come  and  behold  this 
Monarch,  setting  on  a  couch  with  a  common  prostitute,  picked 
up  a  few  years  ago  from  the  streets  of  Paris,  or  let  them  follow 
him  in  his  Forrests  and  there  behold  him  sporting  with  the 
death  of  a  fox  or  stag,  and  then  let  them  declare  if  they  can, 
that  they  believe  him  to  be  the  Lord  Anointed:  It  is  Blasphemy 
itself  to  suppose  that  God  ever  gave  an  absolute  command  over 
1 8  millions  of  his  creatures,  for  this  is  the  number  of  the  in- 
habitants of  France,  to  a  man  like  Louis  the  i5th. 

Before  I  finish  my  remarks  upon  the  French  Nation,  I  shall 
only  add,  that  there  is  one  circumstance  which  bears  a  very 
favourable  aspect  upon  the  liberties  of  this  country  and  that  is, 
that  Agriculture,  begins  to  flourish  more  here  than  formerly. 
Few  countries  in  the  world  equal  France,  for  all  the  varieties 
of  soil,  climate,  manners  and  situation  of  every  kind,  and  yet, 
notwithstanding  this,  so  great  has  been  the  neglect  of  cultiva- 
tion here,  that  an  acre  of  ground  in  the  most  fruitful  parts  of 
France  is  computed  to  be  worth  no  more  than  l/s  of  an  acre  in 
most  parts  of  England.  Many  causes  have  concurred  to  prevent 
the  cultivation  of  their  lands,  the  chief  of  these  are,  first,  the 
extreme  contempt,  in  which  Agriculture  and  Farmers,  have 
always  been  held  in  France.  Secondly,  the  vast  number  of  Parks 
for  hunting  which  are  to  be  found  in  all  parts  of  the  Kingdom. 
Thirdly.  The  shortness  of  leases  granted  to  farmers,  by  the  pro- 
prietors of  lands.  Fourthly.  The  want  of  enclosure  for  their 
fields.  Fifthly.  The  want  of  encouragement  from  the  Crown. 
It  is  easy  to  see  in  what  manner  each  of  these  act,  so  as  to  pre- 
vent the  encouragement  of  agriculture.  But  at  present  it  begins 
to  wear  a  very  different  appearance. 

Several  of  the  principal  men  in  the  Nation  have  lately  written 
very  largely  upon  this  subject.  Societies  for  granting  premiums 
are  now  instituting  all  over  the  Kingdom,  in  imitation  of  those 
formed  in  England  and  Scotland.  From  this  it  seems  probable, 
that  the  Crown  before  long  will  view  it  in  the  important  light 
it  deserves  and  give  proper  encouragement  to  it.  It  is  surprising 


392       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

that  so  ancient  and  useful  an  employment  as  Agriculture  should 
ever  fall  into  disrepute  in  any  country.  The  Civilization  of  Man- 
kind and  Agriculture  began  together;  all  notions  of  property 
were  unknown,  while  men  continued  to  live  by  fishing — hunting, 
pasturage.  As  soon  as  they  began  to  cultivate  the  Earth,  they 
sought  fpr  the  protection  of  laws,  to  secure  to  them,  those  spots 
of  ground  which  they  had  cultivated.  Agriculture  is  the  only 
valid  basis  of  the  riches  of  any  county.  In  Rome  when  that 
empire  flourished  most,  we  find  agriculture  was  held  in  the 
highest  estimation.  Even  Emperors  themselves  have  exchanged, 
the  pleasures  of  a  Court,  for  the  more  innocent  enjoyments  of 
Husbandry  and  those  hands  which  had  been  accustomed  to  wield 
a  Sceptre,  and  to  handle  a  crown,  became  voluntarily  familiar 
with  the  plough,  the  spade,  the  sickle  and  the  pruning  hook. 
The  riches  of  Britain  are  derived  from  this  source  alone.  Her 
manufactures,  her  fleets,  her  armies  and  her  Empire  over  the 
Deep,  will  always  keep  pace,  with  her  improvements  in  Agri- 
culture. 

It  is  owing  to  this  that  the  American  Colonies  have  in  so 
short  a  space  of  time  arisen  to  such  a  pitch  of  grandeur  and 
riches.  Where  this  is  neglected,  there  can  be  neither  riches  nor 
grandeur.  Spain  we  find  is  poor  in  the  midst  of  all  her  treasures 
of  gold  and  silver,  from  the  want  of  industry  among  her  in- 
habitants. The  poverty  of  the  greatest  part  of  Germany  ,  Sweden 
and  Denmark,  is  more  owing  to  the  neglect  of  Agriculture, 
than  to  the  Northern  situation  or  natural  barrenness  of  their 
soil.  In  a  word,  where  agriculture  is  encouraged,  there  will  be 
riches,  where  there  are  riches,  there  will  be  Power,  and  where 
there  is  Power,  there  will  be  Freedom  and  Independence. 

I  might  here  add  a  particular  account  of  the  names  and  char- 
acters of  Physicians,  Chemists,  Philosophers  and  Academicians, 
to  whom  I  was  recommended,  and  among  whom,  I  spent  my  time 
in  the  most  agreeable  manner  during  my  stay  in  Paris.  There  is 
no  difficulty  of  getting  acquainted  with  men  of  this  Character 
in  France.  They  seem  to  acquire  knowledge  only  for  the  sake 
of  communicating  it.  Besides  this,  they  are  extremely  polite  and 


ON  MISCELLANEOUS  THINGS  393 

hospitable,  and  have  none  of  those  formalities  which  so  much 
distinguish  Men  of  Science  in  other  countries.  I  cannot  help 
mentioning  the  name  of  one  gentleman  of  this  character,  to 
Whom  I  was  introduced  by  a  letter  from  Dr.  Franklin. 

As  he  honoured  me  with  many  civilities  whilst  I  was  in  Paris, 
and  has  since  favoured  me  with  his  correspondence,  I  desire  this 
little  history  of  him  to  stand  as  a  monument  of  the  high  esteem, 
I  entertain  for  his  merit  and  virtues.  The  name  is  John  Bareix 
Dubourg.  When  I  first  went  into  his  house,  I  found  him  em- 
ployed in  translating  the  Farmers  Letters  into  French.  The  first 
question  he  asked  me  was,  whether  I  knew  the  author  of  them? 
I  told  him  that  I  had  that  Honour.  He  then  broke  out  into  a  great 
many  fine  encomiums  upon  them  and  said  "that  in  his  opinion 
the  Roman  Orator  Cicero,  was  less  eloquent  than  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Farmer."  Here  I  beheld  (to  borrow  an  allusion  from  the 
Farmers  Letters)  "The  Fire  of  Liberty,  still  blazing  in  a  country, 
after  the  altar  upon  which  it  was  kindled,  was  burned  to  the 
ground." 

In  a  little  time  I  forgot  that  he  was  a  stranger,  I  forgot  that 
he  was  a  Frenchman,  I  forgot  that  he  was  once  the  enemy  of 
my  country.  I  took  him  into  my  arms,  nay  more.  I  took  him  into 
my  very  Heart.  From  that  moment  he  became  my  friend,  and 
should  I  gain  no  other  advantage  by  going  to  France,  than  the 
benefit  of  his  friendship,  and  correspondence,  I  shall  esteem 
my  visit  well  bestowed.  His  wife  is  one  of  the  most  amiable 
women  in  the  world.  He  has  lately  written  a  treatise  upon 
Botany,  calculated  for  the  use  of  ladies  only,  which  he  has  dedi- 
cated to  his  wife.  This  dedication  he  designed  as  a  monument 
of  their  conjugal  happiness.  They  have  never  had  any  children. 

When  I  consider  myself  in  the  character  of  a  Physician,  that 
one  design  I  had  in  view,  in  going  to  France,  was  to  improve 
myself  in  knowledge.  I  cannot  avoid  adding  in  this  place  that 
little  improvement  in  that  way  is  to  be  acquired  in  any  part  of 
this  country.  Medicine  is  not  cultivated  here  by  men  of  rank 
and  fortune,  nor  is  the  profession  looked  upon  so  liberal  in  this 
country,  as  it  is  in  England  or  America.  I  visited  most  of  their 


394       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

hospitals  and  conversed  with  several  of  the  principal  physicians 
in  Paris,  and  was  sorry  to  find  them  at  least  50  years  behind  the 
Physicians  in  England  and  Scotland  in  medical  knowledge. 

After  having  satisfied  my  curiosity  with  regard  to  everything 
that  was  remarkable,  or  worthy  of  a  stranger's  notice  in  Paris, 
I  set  off  March  zist  for  London.  On  my  return  I  passed  thro' 
several  considerable  villages,  which  seemed  to  be  crowded  with 
inhabitants — Amiens  in  particular,  is  said  to  contain  30,000  in- 
habitants. There  is  a  large  and  most  magnificent  Church,  built 
by  Henry  the  3rd,  King  of  England,  in  memory  of  some  Victory 
gained  over  the  French.  The  floor  and  most  of  the  Pillars  of  the 
Church  are  of  fine  marble,  the  paintings,  the  ornaments  round 
the  Altar  exceed  all  description,  none  of  them  however  struck 
me  so  much  as  the  Figure  of  a  venerable  Abbe,  whom  I  saw 
walking  up  and  down  the  Church.  He  appeared  to  be  about  40 
years  of  age.  His  complexion  was  dark,  his  countenance  grave 
inclining  a  little  to  the  melancholy.  His  eyes  were  fixed  so  in- 
tently upon  the  floor,  that  all  the  noise  that  was  made  by  those 
who  passed  and  repassed,  (some  of  whom  talked  pretty  loud) 
did  not  cause  him  once  to  lift  them  up  or  look  up  at  them.  I 
approached  him  as  near  as  possible,  and  put  myself  in  his  way, 
but  it  was  to  no  purpose.  I  could  not  disturb  him. 

Had  I  giv^n  way  to  the  prejudices  of  my  education  with 
regard  to  the  opinions,  which  are  entertained  in  most  Protestant 
countries,  concerning  the  Popish  Religion,  I  should  have  con- 
cluded that  this  venerable  man,  this  Son  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church,  was  plotting  some  schemes  to  subvert  the  State,  or  to 
eradicate  the  Tenets  of  the  Heretics.  But  I  was  far  from  cherish- 
ing a  thought  of  this  kind.  This  Holy  Man  (said  I  to  myself) 
has  betook  himself  this  morning  to  this  Sanctuary,  in  order  to 
offer  up  his  Morning  Oblations  to  Heaven. 

The  flame  of  devotion  can  burn  notwithstanding  it  is  kindled 
upon  the  Altar  of  Superstition.  The  Deity  pays  no  regard  to 
those  little  ceremonies,  in  Worship,  which  divide  most  of  the 
Christian  Churches.  He  will  always  worship  acceptably,  who 
worships  him  in  Spirit  and  in  Truth.  The  perfume  of  flowers 


ON  MISCELLANEOUS  THINGS  395 

is  the  same  on  whatsoever  soil  they  grow  and  there  is  no  Church 
I  believe  so  corrupt,  that  does  not  contain  within  its  bosom 
many  individuals  whose  devotion  (tho'  mingled  with  supersti- 
tion and  enthusiasm)  does  not  rise  like  grateful  incense  to  the 
Throne  of  Heaven. 

I  arrived  at  Calais  March  2jth  and  sailed  next  day  in  the 
Packet  Boat  for  Dover,  was  23  hours  on  the  water,  altho'  the 
distance  was  but  21  miles.  I  set  out  from  Dover  March  2yth  and 
arrived  at  a  Village  called  Dartford  the  same  day.  The  next 
morning  I  set  off  for  London  which  was  within  1 5  miles  of  Dart- 
ford.  With  this  I  finish  my  account  of  my  journey  to  Paris. 


DIRECTIONS     FOR    CONDUCTING 
A     NEWSPAPER 

Addressed  to  Mr.  Brown,  editor  of  the 
Federal  Gazette 


i .  CONSIDER  that  we  live  three  thousand  miles  from  the  nations 
of  Europe,  and  that  we  have  but  little  interest  in  their  domestic 
parties,  or  national  quarrels.  The  less  therefore  you  publish  of 
them,  the  better. 

2.  Avoid  filling  your  paper  with  anecdotes  of  British  vices 
and  follies.  What  have  the  citizens  of  the  United  States  to  do 
with  the  duels,  the  elopements,  the  crim.  cons,  the  kept  mis- 
tresses, the  murders,  the  suicides,  the  thefts,  the  forgeries,  the 
boxing  matches,  the  wagers  for  eating,  drinking,  and  walking, 
&c.  &c.  of  the  people  of  Great  Britain?  such  stuff,  when  cir- 
culated through  our  country,  by  means  of  a  newspaper,  is  cal- 
culated to  destroy  that  delicacy  in  the  mind,  which  is  one  of 
the  safeguards  of  the  virtue  of  a  young  country. 

3.  If  any  of  the  above-named  vices  should  ever  be  committed 
in  the  United  States,  the  less  that  is  said  about  it  the  better. 
What  have  the  citizens  of  Philadelphia  to  do  wiA  the  criminal 

amours  of  Mr.  M ,  of  Boston? — the  frequent  and  minute 

histories  of  such  gross  vices,  take  off  from  the  horror  they  would 
otherwise  excite  in  the  mind. 

4.  Never  suffer  your  paper  to  be  a  vehicle  of  private  scandal, 
or  of  personal  disputes.  If  the  faults  of  public  officers  are  ex- 
posed, let  it  be  done  with  decency.  No  man  has  a  right  to  attack 

396 


ON  MISCELLANEOUS  THINGS  397 

the  vices  or  follies  of  private  citizens,  in  a  newspaper.  Should 
you  under  a  false  idea  of  preserving  the  liberty  of  the  press,  lay 
open  the  secrets  of  families,  and  thereby  wound  female  honour 
and  delicacy,  I  hope  our  legislature  will  repeal  the  law  that 
relates  to  assault  and  battery,  and  that  the  liberty  of  the  bludgeon 
will  be  as  sacred  and  universal  in  Pennsylvania,  as  your  liberty 
of  the  press. 

5.  Never  publish  an  article  in  your  paper,  that  you  would 
not  wish  your  wife  or  daughter  (if  you  have  any)  should  read 
or  understand. 

6.  The  less  you  publish  about  yourself  the  better.  What 
have  your  readers  to  do  with  the  neglects  or  insults  that  are 
offered  to  you  by  your  fellow  citizens?  if  a  printer  offends  you, 
attack  him  in  your  paper,  because  he  can  defend  himself  with 
the  same  weapons  with  which  you  wound  him;  type  against  type 
is  fair  play;  but  to  attack  a  man  who  has  no  types  nor  printing 
press,  or  who  does  not  know  any  thing  about  the  manual  of 
using  them,  is  cowardly  in  the  highest  degree.  If  you  had  been 
in  twenty  Bunkers-hill  battles,  instead  of  one,  and  had  fought 
forty  duels  into  the  bargain,  and  were  afterwards  to  revenge 
an  affront,  upon  a  man  who  was  not  a  printer,  in  your  newspaper, 
I  would  not  believe  that  you  possessed  a  particle  of  true  courage. 
If  such  a  person  injures  you,  if  you  are  a  Christian,  you  may 
forgive  him,  or  sue  him — if  you  are  a  savage,  you  may  challenge 
him  to  fight  a  duel — and  if  you  are  a  wild  beast,  you  may  tear 
him  to  pieces  with  your  claws,  or  kick  him  into  the  gutter. 

7.  Publish,  .as  often  as  you  can  obtain  them,  an  exact  but 
short  account  of  all  the  laws  that  are  passed  in  all  the  states  in 
the  Union. 

8.  Furnish  your  customers  if  possible  with  the  future  debates 
of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United 
States. 

9.  Let  the  advancement  of  agriculture — manufactures — and 
commerce,  be  the  principal  objects  of  your  paper.  A  receipt  to 
destroy  the  insects  that  feed  upon  turnips,  or  to  prevent  the  rot 
in  sheep,  will  be  more  useful  in  America,  than  all  the  inventions 


398       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

for  destroying  the  human  species,  which  so  often  fill  the  col- 
umns of  European  newspapers. 

10.  Publish  a  price-current,  and  a  state  of  the  weather,  once 
a  week;  and  once  a  month,  publish  a  list  of  all  the  deaths  in  the 
city — and  if  possible,  the  names  of  the  diseases  which  occasioned 
them. 

1 1.  Do  not  neglect  to  insert  a  good  essay,  or  paragraph,  be- 
cause it  has  been  published  in  another  newspaper.  Extracts  from 
modern  publications  upon  useful  subjects,  will  at  all  times  be 
acceptable  to  your  readers. 


THE     BENEFITS     OF     CHARITY 

A  Dream 


OVERCOME  with  the  heat  and  business  of  a  warm  day,  I  threw 
myself  down  in  the  afternoon  of  the  6th  of  this  month,  upon  a 
sopha,  where  I  had  not  remained  long,  before  I  dropped  asleep. 
In  the  course  of  my  nap,  the  following  train  of  singular  events 
were  presented  to  my  imagination.  They  made  so  strong  an  im- 
pression upon  my  mind  that  I  could  not  help  committing  them 
to  paper,  and  have  since  yielded  to  the  importunities  of  several 
of  my  friends,  to  whom  I  showed  them,  by  consenting  to  make 
them  public,  through  the  medium  of  the  magazine. 

I  thought  that  I  was  conveyed,  suddenly  into  the  kingdom 
of  Heaven,  where  I  was  first  struck  with  the  appearance  of  a 
large  book,  lettered  on  the  back  "the  Judgements  and  Mercies 
of  God" — On  each  side  of  the  book  stood  an  angel  with  a  large 
breast  plate,  suspended  from  each  of  their  necks;  on  one  of  them 
was  engraved  in  flaming  characters,  The  Destroying  Angel, — 
on  the  other  was  engraved,  in  letters  of  gold,  The  Angel  of 
Mercy. — The  title  of  the  latter  engaged  my  attention  and  con- 
fidence, and  I  took  the  liberty  of  asking  him  the  meaning  of  the 
book,  and  the  nature  of  the  offices  which  he  and  his  companion 
held  in  the  heavenly  mansions.  With  a  smile  of  benignity  he  told 
me,  that  the  large  book  contained  a  particular  account  of  all  the 
judgments  of  God,  which  had  ever  been  inflicted  upon  the 
nations  and  inhabitants  of  the  earth,  as  well  as  the  deliverances 
and  mercies  which  had  been  conferred  upon  them.  "My  friend 
on  the  right  hand,  said  he,  is  the  minister  of  the  former.  I  have 

399 


4oo       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

the  happiness  of  bdng  the  minister  of  the  latter — War — fire — 
pestilence — famine — and  earthquakes  sue  to  him  for  employ- 
ment, whenever  he  visits  the  earth — while  peace — plenty  and 
ioy  always  follow  my  footsteps."  After  this  he  gave  me  an 
account  of  the  steps  which  preceded  all  the  great  and  terrible 
calamities  which  had  destroyed  cities  and  countries  in  different 
ages  of  the  world.  As  I  still  retained  an  affection  for  the  city 
of  Philadelphia,  I  expressed  a  desire  to  know  something  of  the 
past  and  future  dispensations  of  Providence  towards  it.  "You 
shall  be  gratified  (said  the  angel  of  mercy.)  In  this  book  is  an 
exact  detail  of  these  dispensations."  Upon  this  he  opened  the 
book,  which  was  of  a  folio  size,  and  begged  me  to  read  the  con- 
tents of  half  a  page,  which  I  accordingly  did,  and  which,  as 
nearly  as  I  can  recollect,  contained  the  following  history. 

"In  the  month  of  June  1778  an  order  was  issued  to  destroy 
the  city  of  Philadelphia  by  fire.  The  destroying  angel,  had 
already  winged  his  flight  with  a  flaming  torch  in  his  hand,  to 

lay  that  beautiful  city  in  ashes. When,  suddenly,  the  angel 

of  mercy  pointed  to  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital,  which  stands  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  the  city.  Instantly  the  destroying  angel 
extinguished  his  torch  in  the  river  Delaware,  and  returned  to  his 
usual  post  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 

In  the  year  1786  an  edict  was  issued  to  punish  the  city  of 
Philadelphia  for  its  wickedness  by  famine.  The  destroying  angel 
appeared  with  blights — and  mill-dew,  and  insects  of  various 
kinds,  which  feed  on  all  manner  of  vegetable  aliment,  in  his 
hand. — The  angel  of  mercy  appeared,  and  with  his  right  hand 
and  eyes  uplifted  to  heaven,  pointed  to  a  small  building  in  Straw- 
berry Alley,  called  the  Dispensary,  and  offered  up  at  the  same 
time  the  prayers  and  praises  of  upwards  of  1800  patients  who 
had  been  relieved  by  it  from  sickness  and  death.  Instantly  the 
destroying  angel  disappeared,  the  autumn  was  crowned  with 
plenty,  and  the  inhabitants  enjoyed  their  usual  profusion  of  the 
good  things  of  life. 

In  the  month  of  March  1787,  the  wickedness  of  Philadelphia 
increased  to  such  a  degree,  as  to  awaken  the  divine  vengeance  a 


ON  MISCELLANEOUS  THINGS  401 

third  time,  and  the  destroying  angel  was  commanded  to  let  loose 
upon  it  the  calamities  of  sickness  and  death.  He  appeared  with 
a  box  in  his  hand,  in  which  was  confined  the  contagion  of  a 
malignant  fever.  The  angel  of  mercy  followed  close  upon  his 
heels,  and  pointed  to  the  Society  for  the  Gradual  Abolition  of 
Slavery,  'and  the  Relief  of  Free  Negroes,  unlawfully  held  in 
Bondage.  The  destroying  angel  buried  his  box,  and  retired  again 
to  heaven. 

In  the  month  of  May,  of  the  same  year,  the  wickedness  of 
Philadelphia  again  provoked  the  wrath  of  heaven;  and  the  de- 
stroying angel  was  sent  to  excite  among  her  citizens  a  civil  war. 
Already  he  waved  in  the  air  all  the  terrible  instruments  of  death. 
The  angel  of  mercy  wept  over  the  calamities  which  threatened 
the  children  of  men; — but  he  soon  wiped  away  his  tears  upon 
contemplating  the  German  Lutheran  school  house.  "Behold! 
here,  (said  he  to  the  destroying  angel)  a  Society  for  Alleviating 
the  Miseries  of  Public  Prisons. — See  in  the  chair  of  the  society 
the  Bishop  of  Pennsylvania,  and  at  his  right  hand  the  minister 
of  the  Lutheran  church. — See!  the  chains  fall  from  the  prisoner, 
and  hunger — nakedness — and  vice  fly  before  them." — Instantly 
the  destroying  angel  broke  his  military  instruments  into  a  thou- 
sand pieces,  and  winged  his  way  to  the  regions  of  peace  and 
happiness. 

In  the  month  of  July  of  the  same  year,  the  cry  of  the  wicked- 
ness of  the  citizens  of  Philadelphia  once  more  reached  the 
heavens.  The  divine  wrath  was  kindled  in  a  more  especial  manner 
at  the  profanation  of  the  Sabbath  day,  and  at  the  impious  and 
indecent  language,  which  was  to  be  heard  from  the  children  in 
the  streets  in  every  part  of  the  city.  The  destroying  angel  was 
commissioned  to  overwhelm  the  city  by  an  earthquake. — 
Though  habituated  to  the  business  of  destruction,  he  hesitated 
in  the  execution  of  his  order.  At  last  he  appeared  with  a  mixture 
of  sulphur — air — water  and  fire  (the  ingredients  of  earthquakes) 
in  his  hand.  The  angel  of  mercy  looked  around  him,  for  a  pious 
and  charitable  institution,  to  plead  with  heaven  in  favour  of  the 
city. — Having  heard  of  a  proposal — he  cried  out  free-schools. 


402       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

uBut  where  are  they" — said  the  destroying  angel? — In  vain  he 
sought  for  them  in  every  part  of  the  city. — But  "hold  (said  the 
angel  of  mercy) — allow  the  citizens  of  Philadelphia  only  a  few 
months  more,  and  they  will  establish  them.  Hear  in  the  mean 
time  the  following  prayer."  M ay  ive  be  accepted,  also  concern- 
ing one  thhig  nrore,  O  God!  our  spirit  is  stirred  up  ^ith  com-* 
passion  for  the  vmltitudes  of  children  in  this  great  city,  'who 
stroll  about  unheeded  and  untaught.  Lord  of  Mercy! — Make 
speed  to  save  them,  by  putting  It  into  the  hearts  of  the  humane, 
and  affluent  to  gather  these  destitute  ones,  in  some  kindly  folds 
of  instruction,  that  they  likewise  may  become  useful  and  happy.* 

The  destroying  angel  was  moved  with  the  language  of  this 
prayer.  Pie  retired  a  few  minutes  from  the  sight  of  the  angel  of 
mercy,  and  upon  returning  addressed  him  in  the  following 
words.  "I  am  commanded  to  suspend  the  execution  of  the  last 
sentence,  denounced  against  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  upon  a 
certain  condition. — If  the  inhabitants  shall  unite  and  establish 
free  schools  in  which  human  learning  shall  be  accompanied,  and 
corrected  with  religious  instruction,  at  any  time  before  the  first 
of  May  1788,  the  city  shall  not  be  destroyed  by  an  earthquake, 
nor  shall  the  righteous  indignation  of  heaven,  again  be  awakened 
against  it;  for  the  diffusion  of  knowledge  and  religion  among  the 
poor  shall  protect  it  against  every  evil,  and  render  this  city  the 
delight  and  admiration  of  the  world." — 

Here  I  closed  the  book,  and  was  suddenly  conveyed  back 
to  my  native  city.  Anxious  to  preserve  it  from  destruction,  I 
flew  immediately  to  the  State  House,  where  I  was  introduced 
to  the  presence  of  the  General  Assembly.  My  countenance,  I 
suppose,  bespoke  distress  and  impatience,  for  the  speaker  inter- 
rupted the  business  of  the  house,  and  called  upon  me  to  know 
whether  I  had  any  thing  to  communicate  to  the  assembly.  After 
a  low  bow  at  the  bar  of  the  house,  I  began  to  address  them,  as 
nearly  as  I  can  remember,  in  the  following  language.  "Legislators 

*  This  excellent  petition  is  part  of  a  sublime  and  devout  prayer,  de- 
livered by  Dr.  Magaw,  at  the  close  of  the  quarterly  examination,  on  the 
z8th  of  July,  at  Mr.  Brown's  Female  Academy. 


ON  MISCELLANEOUS  THINGS  403 

of  Pennsylvania,  permit  me  to  call  your  attention  a  few  minutes 
from  the  present  subject  of  your  deliberations,  to  the  salvation 
of  the  city  of  Philadelphia.  It  is  in  your  power  to  save  it  from 
being  destroyed  by  an  earthquake.  It  is  in  vain  to  enact  laws 
to  suppress,  or  to  punish  vice  and  immorality.  It  is  of  much  more 
consequence,  and  infinitely  more  easy,  to  prevent  them,  by  pro- 
viding for  the  education  of  the  children  of  poor  people.  Have 
compassion  upon  yourselves. — Let  not  human  nature  be  de- 
graded any  longer  in  Pennsylvania  by  the  crimes  and  punish- 
ments which  follow  ignorance  and  vice. — Hear — ye  guardians 
of  the  lives  of  your  fellow  citizens,  the  dreadful  catastrophe 
which  awaits  the  capital  of  your  state.  Nothing  can  prevent  it 
but  the  immediate  establishment  of  free  schools  in  your  city. — 
On  the  ist  day  of  May,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  1788." — In 
pronouncing  these  words,  my  voice  faltered,  and  I  attempted 
in  vain  to  finish  the  sentence.  The  agitation  of  my  mind  and  body 
attracted  the  sympathy  of  a  gentleman  who  sat  near  me,  who, 
in  offering  me  the  support  of  his  hand,  suddenly  awaked  me 
from  my  dream. 


THE     YELLOW     FEVER 

Some  Family  Letters 


PHILADA:  Aug:  21.  1793. 

MY  DEAR  JULIA, — To  prevent  your  being  deceived  by  reports 
respecting  the  sickliness  of  our  city,  I  sit  down  at  a  late  hour,  and 
much  fatigued,  to  inform  you  that  a  malignant  fever  has  broken 
out  in  Water  Street  between  Arch  and  Race  Streets  which  has 
already  carried  off  twelve  persons  within  the  space  which  -has 
been  mentioned.  It  is  supposed  to  have  been  produced  by  some 
damaged  coffee  which  had  putrified  on  one  of  the  wharves  near 
the  middle  of  the  above  district.  The  disease  is  violent  and  of 
short  duration.  In  one  case  it  killed  in  twelve  hours,  and  in  no 
case  has  it  lasted  more  than  four  days.  Among  its  victims  is 
Mrs.  LeMaigre.  I  have  attended  three  of  the  persons  who  have 
died  with  it,  and  seven  or  eight  who  have  survived,  or  who  are 
I  hope  recovering  from  it. 

As  yet  it  has  not  spread  thro'  any  parts  of  the  city  which  are 
beyond  the  reach  of  the  putrid  exhalation  which  first  produced 
it.  If  it  should,  I  shall  give  you  notice,  that  you  may  remain 
where  you  are  till  you  receive  further  advice  and  information 
from  me.  The  influenza  continues  to  spread,  and  with  more 
violent  symptoms  than  when  it  made  its  first  appearance.  I  did 
more  business  in  1780  than  I  do  at  present,  but  with  much  less 
anxiety,  for  few  of  the  diseases  of  that  year  were  attended  with 
any  danger,  whereas  now,  most  of  the  cases  I  attend  are  acute 

404 


ON  MISCELLANEOUS  THINGS  405 

and  alarming,  and  require  an  uncommon  degree  of  vigilance  and 
attention. 

Aug:  22. 

Marcus  has  been  ill  with  the  influenza,  but  is  now  better. 
Rich'd:  Ben,  and  all  the  rest  of  the  family  are  in  good  health. 

I  have  just  rec'd:  a  letter  from  Dr.  *  *  *  in  which  he  has  the 
following  paragraph:  "I  have  just  seen  Mr.  Woolstonecraft.  He 
does  not  like  your  lands,  and  that  for  the  most  childish  reasons. 
He  says  that  he  saw  but  one  flight  of  pheasants,  three  fishy  ducks 
and  not  one  woodcock  on  the  whole  creek,  and  that  he  will  never 
settle  anywhere  where  he  cannot  support  himself  by  his  gun" 

So  much  the  better!  I  have  received  since  you  left  town 
conveyances  for  nearly  all  the  lands  I  sold  to  the  New  Eng'd. 
men.  They  adjoin  the  lands  sold  by  Rob't.  Morris  to  the  French 
Company  who  are  about  to  improve  them  in  the  most  extensive 
manner  next  Spring.  All  is  for  the  best  and  all  ivill  end  'well. 

A  son  of  Dr.  Priestley  has  just  arrived  in  this  city  from 
France.  He  gives  a  most  distressing  account  of  the  affairs  of  that 
country.  But  let  us  not  despair.  Chaos  existed  before  the  order 
and  beauty  of  the  universe.  The  devil  who  is  the  present  tenant 
of  our  world,  will  not  quit  his  hold  of  it  till  he  has  done  the 
premises  all  the  mischief  that  lies  in  his  power,  but  go  he  must 
sooner  or  later,  with  all  his  family  of  nobles  and  kings. 

Adieu:  with  love  as  usual  I  am  my  dear  Julia, 

Yours  affect'y, 

BENJN  RUSH. 
P.S. — John  should  come  home  as  soon  as  his  vacation  expires. 


PHILADELPHIA,  AUG:  25.  1793. 

MY  DEAR  JULIA, — Since  my  letter  to  you  of  Friday,  the  fever 
has  assumed  a  most  alarming  appearance.  It  not  only  mocks  in 
most  instances  the  power  of  medicine,  but  it  has  spread  thro' 


406       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

several  parts  of  the  city  remote  from  the  spot  where  it  originated. 
Water  Street  between  Arch  and  Race  Streets  is  nearly  desolated 
by  it.  This  morning  I  witnessed  a  scene  there,  which  reminded 
me  of  the  histories  I  had  read  of  the  plague.  In  one  house  I  lost 
two  patients  last  night,  a  respectable  young  merchant  and  his 
only  child.  His  wife  is  frantic  this  evening  with  grief.  Five  other 
persons  died  in  the  neighbourhood  yesterday  afternoon  and  four 
more  last  night  at  Kensington.  The  College  of  Physicians  met  this 
afternoon  to  consult  upon  the  means  of  checking  the  progress  of 
this  dreadful  disease.  They  appointed  a  Committee  to  draw  up 
directions  for  that  purpose.  The  Committee  imposed  this  business 
upon  me,  and  I  have  just  finished  them.  They  will  be  handed  to 
the  Mayor  when  adopted  by  the  College  and  published  by  him  in 
a  day  or  two.  I  hope,  and  believe  that  they  will^be  useful. 

After  this  detail  of  the  state  of  the  fever,  I  need  hardly  re- 
quest you  to  remain  for  a  while  with  all  the  children  where  you 
are.  Many  people  are  flying  from  the  city,  and  some  by  my 
advice.  Continue  to  commit  me  by  your  prayers  to  the  protection 
of  that  Being  who  has  so  often  manifested  his  goodness  to  our 
family  by  the  preservation  of  my  life,  and  I  hope  I  shall  do  well. 
I  endeavour  to  have  no  will  of  my  own.  I  enjoy  good  health  and 
uncommon  tranquility  of  mind.  While  I  depend  upon  divine 
protection,  and  feel  that  at  present  I  live,  move,  and  have  my 
being  in  a  more  especial  manner  in  God  alone,  I  do  not  neglect  to 
use  every  precaution  that  experience  has  discovered,  to  prevent 
taking  the  infection.  I  even  strive  to  subdue  my  sympathy  for 
my  patients,  otherwise  I  should  sink  under  the  accumulated 
loads  of  misery  I  am  obliged  to  contemplate.  You  can  recollect 
how  much  the  loss  of  a  single  patient  once  in  a  month  used 
to  affect  me.  Judge  then  how  I  must  feel,  in  hearing  every 
morning  of  the  death  of  three  or  four! 

I  shall  confine  John  and  Richard  to  the  house,  and  oblige  them 
to  use  precautions  against  the  disorder.  My  mother  and  sister  are 
so  kind  and  attentive  as  to  prevent  all  our  wants  and  wishes. 

My  love  to  your  uncle  and  aunt  and  all  the  children.  I  am 
afraid  you  will  burden  our  good  relations,  No — this  cannot  be. 


ON  MISCELLANEOUS  THINGS  407 

They  love  you,  and  they  love  to  do  offices  of  kindness  and 
humanity. 

Adieu;  from  your 

sincere  and  affectionate 

BENJN  RUSH. 


PHILADA  Aug:  29th  1793- 

MY  DEAR  JULIA, — Your  letter  dated  yesterday  came  safe  to 
hand. 

I  am  pleased  with  your  situation  at  your  good  aunts.  Be 
assured  that  I  will  send  for  you,  if  I  should  be  seized  with  the 
disorder,  for  I  conceive  that  it  would  be  as  much  your  duty  not 
to  desert  me  in  that  situation,  as  it  is  now  mine  not  to  desert 
my  patients.  I  have  sent  Becky  with  Ben  to  Mr.  Bradford's  farm 
this  afternoon.  They  were  most  affectionately  received  by  Betsey 
Johnson.  Mrs.  Wallace  furnished  them  with  tea,  coffee,  sugar 
and  sundry  other  things  to  render  them  less  burdensome  to  our 
good  friends.  The  disease  has  raged  with  great  virulence  this 
day.  Among  the  dead  are  Woodruf  Sims,  and  Mr.  Stiles  the  stone 
cutter.  The  last  exhibited  signs  of  the  plague  before  he  died. 
I  have  seen  the  same  symptoms  in  the  hospital  fever  during  the 
late  war.  They  have  however  greatly  increased  the  terror  of 
our  citizens,  and  have  excited  an  apprehension  that  it  is  in  reality 
the  Plague,  but  this  I  am  sure  is  not  the  case,  altho'  it  comes 
nearer  to  it  in  violence  and  mortality  than  any  disease  we  have 
ever  before  had  in  this  country.  Its  symptoms  are  very  different 
in  different  people.  Sometimes  it  comes  on  with  a  chilly  fit,  and 
a  high  fever,  but  more  frequently  it  steals  on  with  headache, 
languor  and  sick  stomach.  These  symptoms  are  followed  by 
stupor,  delirium,  vomiting,  a  dry  skin,  cool  or  cold  hands  and 
feet,  a  feeble  slow  pulse,  sometimes  below  in  frequency  the 
pulse  of  health.  The  eyes  are  at  first  suffused  with  blood,  they 
afterwards  become  yellow,  and  in  most  cases  a  yellowness  covers 
the  whole  skin  on  the  3rd.  or  4th.  day.  Few  survive  the  5th 


4o8       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

day,  but  more  die  on  the  2nd.  and  3rd.  days.  In  some  cases  the 
patients  possess  their  reason  to  the  last,  and  discover  much  less 
weakness  than  in  the  last  stage  of  common  fevers.  One  of  my 
patients  stood  up  and  shaved  himself  on  the  morning  of  the  day 
he  died.  Livid  spots  on  the  body,  a  bleeding  at  the  nose,  from 
the  gums  and  from  the  bowels,  and  a  vomiting  of  black  matter 
in  some  instances  close  the  scenes  of  life.  The  common  reme- 
dies for  malignant  fevers  have  all  failed.  Bark,  wine  and  blisters 
make  no  impression  upon  it.  Baths  of  hot  vinegar  applied  by 
means  of  blankets,  and  the  cold  bath  have  relieved  and  saved 
some.  Mrs.  Chalmer  owes  her  life  to  the  former  remedy.  She 
caught  it  from  her  husband,  who  caught  it  in  Water  Street  near 
the  place  where  it  originated.  He  too  is  upon  the  recovery. 
This  day  I  have  given  mercury,  and  I  think  with  some  advan- 
tage. Dr.  .  .  .  and  myself  consult  much  together,  and  I  derive 
great  support  and  assistance  from  him  in  all  my  attempts  to  stop 
the  progress  of  this  terrible  malady.  He  is  an  excellent  man, 
and  rises  in  his  humanity  and  activity  with  the  danger  and  dis- 
tress of  his  fellow  citizens.  I  have  advised  all  the  families  that  I 
attend,  that  can  move,  to  quit  the  city.  There  is  but  one  pre- 
ventative  of  it  that  is  certain,  and  that  is  "to  fly  from  it." 

Johnny  Stall  sleeps  and  eats  with  us,  and  thereby  relieves 
me  very  much.  My  mother  and  sister  are  a  part  of  the  means  that 
providence  employs  to  preserve  me  from  the  infection.  They  are 
very  kind.  Mrs.  Wallace  has  contrived  a  small  mattress  on  some 
chairs  on  which  I  rest  myself  by  lying  down  every  time  I  come 
into  the  house.  Adieu,  with  love  to  your  Mama,  your  aunts,  the 
children,  and  all  friends,  I  am  my  Dear  Julia 

Your  faithful  and  affectionate 

BENJN  RUSH. 

Aug.-  30th.  Another  night  and  morning  have  been  added  to 
my  life.  I  am  preparing  to  set  off  for  my  daily  round  of  duty, 
and  feel  heartily  disposed  to  say  with  Jabez,  "O  that  the  hand 
of  the  Lord  may  be  with  me"  not  only  to  preserve  my  life,  but 
to  heal  my  poor  patients.  Betsey's  relations  are  all  well. 


ON  MISCELLANEOUS  THINGS  409 

PHILADA  Septem:   i.  1793. 

MY  DEAR  JULIA, — In  the  language  of  good  old  Dr.  Sproats 
prayer  I  am  enabled  yet  to  thank  God  "that  I  am  alive,  while 
others  are  dead."  Two  persons  have  died  at  Mrs.  Lewis',  next 
door  to  Peter  Bayntons  with  the  malignant  fever,  viz:  Two  of 
the  Misses  Mifflins.  A  woman  has  died  with  the  same  disorder 

in  Dock  Street  near and  her  husband  will  probably 

follow  her  before  tomorrow  morning.  Thirty-eight  persons  have 
died  in  eleven  families  in  nine  days  in  Water  Street,  and  many 
more  in  different  parts  of  the  city.  Funerals  are  conducted 
agreeably  to  the  advice  of  the  College  of  Physicians. 

BENJN  RUSH. 

Wed.  Sept.  4.  1793. 

MY  DEAR  JULIA, — The  post  is  on  the  wing.  I  can  only  inform 
you  that  I  put  a  letter  into  the  post  office  for  you  directed  to 
Princeton — this  morning.  I  shall,  if  well,  write  to  you  again 
this  evening.  After  a  busy  morning,  I  am,  thank  God,  still  in 
good  health.  Dr.  ...  is  not  dead,  but  in  great  danger.  The  dis- 
ease spreads,  but  its  mortality  is  much  less  in  proportion  to  the 
number  who  are  affected.  The  jalap  and  mercury  cures  9  out 
of  10,  of  all  who  take  it  on  the  day  of  the  attack.  Adieu. 

BENJN  RUSH. 


PHILADA  Septem:  5:   1793. 

MY  DEAR  JULIA, — Still  alive  and  in  good  health,  after  hav- 
ing visited  and  prescribed  for  nearly  one  hundred  patients. 
The  disease  continues  to  spread,  but  with  no  more  mortality 
than  a  common  bilious  fever  in  the  hands  of  those  physicians 
who  use  the  mercurial  antidote.  I  now  save  29  out  of  30  of  all 
to  whom  I  am  called  on  the  first  day,  and  many  to  whom  I  am 
called  after  it.  Fewer  deaths  have  occurred  I  believe  this  day  than 
on  several  days  last  week,  and  yet  many  hundred  people  have 
the  fever  now  than  had  it  last  week.  Some  of  my  brethren  rail 
at  my  new  remedy,  but  they  have  seen  little  of  the  disease,  and 


4io       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

some  of  them  not  a  single  patient.  Most  of  the  publications  in 
the  papers  come  from  those  gentlemen.  They  abound  in  ab- 
surdities and  falsehoods.  This  night  will  probably  end  the  busy 
life  of  Dr.  .  .  .  He  continued  to  object  to  taking  my  medicine 
and  was  supported  in  his  obstinacy  by  two  young  Doctors  who 
had  obtruded  themselves  upon  him.  Dr.  ...  is  better.  Dr.  .  .  . 
is  well,  and  my  invaluable  friend  ...  is  out  of  danger.  Poor 
Bill  Bache  was  almost  heart  broken  during  his  masters  indisposi- 
tion. Pet.  Baynton  is  infected,  Mrs.  Baynton,  Kitty  and  Mrs. 
Bullock  are  all  in  a  safe  way.  I  have  had  1 2  new  calls  today,  and 
have  not  lost  a  single  patient  since  the  night  before  last.  I  have 
found  lately  I  hope  a  preventative  of  the  disease,  as  well  as  a 
cure.  It  consists  [not  in  drenching  the  stomach  with  wine,  bark 
and  bitters]  but  in  keeping  the  bowels  gently  open,  for  in  them 
the  disease  first  fixes  its  poison.  I  owe  these  discoveries,  as  well 
as  my  preservation,  to  the  prayers  of  my  friends. 

Septem.  6th. — 6  o'clock  in  the  morning.  Blessed  be  God,  my 
life,  health  and  reason  are  still  preserved  to  me.  I  forgot  to 
mention  that  one  of  my  pupils  Washington  has  got  the  disease. 

He  lies  at  Mrs.  a  mile  from  town,  where  he  is  so 

much  ashamed  of  being  visited  by  me,  that  I  heard  of  his  illness 
by  accident  only  from  Johnny  Stall.  I  shall  try  to  see  him,  tho'  I 
fear  from  the  violence  of  his  symptoms,  and  the  progress  of  the 
disease  that  he  will  not  recover.  John  Cox  has  become  active  and 
useful  to  me.  He  is  very  intelligent  on  the  subject  of  the  dis- 
order, and  knows  no  fear.  Dr.  .  .  .  has  taken  charge  of  all 
Dr.  .  .  .  public  patients,  and  is  to  divide  the  profits  of  attend- 
ing them  equally.  If  the  Dr.  survives,  the  partnership  is  to  be 
perpetual.  But  this  is  improbable,  for  tho'  I  have  just  heard  that 
he  is  still  alive,  yet  I  hear  that  he  has  a  symptom  which  none 
[at  least  of  my  patients]  have  survived.  Adieu.  The  box  of 
clothes,  with  a  letter  from  my  sister  were  sent  this  morning  by 
the  stage  committed  to  the  care  of  Mr.  Sayre.  I  paid  the  freight 
of  the  box  here.  Adieu;  my  love  to  all  the  family  at  Morven. 
Do  oblige  the  boys  to  read  systematically,  and  to  avoid  cold, 
fatigue  and  heat,  also  intemperance  in  eating,  for  each  of  those 


ON  MISCELLANEOUS  THINGS  411 

existing  causes  has  produced  the  disease  when  the  body  has  been 
infected.  There  is  no  certainty  that  they  did  not  carry  the  in- 
fection from  town.  It  lies  from  i  to  16  days  in  the  body,  and  the 
fever  may  be  excited  at  any  time  within  those  days. 
Adieu,  again;  yours,  yrs — yrs 

BENJN  RUSH. 


PHILADELPHIA  Septemr  15,  1793. 

MY  DEAR  JULIA, — Life  and  health  become  every  day  more 
and  more  a  miracle  in  persons  who  are  constantly  exposed  to  it. 
The  disease  spreads.  Scarcely  a  family  escape  it.  I  have  this  day 
visited  above  twenty  families  which  have  all  from  two  to  six 
persons  in  it  confined  to  their  beds,  and  many  which  have  one. 

Poor  Mr.  !  After  dismissing  me  and  sending  for  a 

French  physician,  sent  for  me  again  this  morning;  but  alas!  it 
was  too  late  to  help  him.  He  was  yellow,  cold  and  puking  blood. 
"O  Doctor"  said  he  Bringing  his  hands,  "I  was  persuaded  by 
my  friends  to  employ  the  French  physician.  But  help  mer  help 
me."  I  told  him  I  would  do  my  utmost  for  him,  and  with  a  heart 
wrung  with  anguish  I  hurried  from  his  room.  Many,  many  such 
scenes  do  I  witness  daily.  For  several  days  past  I  have  sent  50  and 
60  patients  to  other  doctors.  My  old  patients  are  constantly  pre- 
ferred by  me.  .  .  .'s  publication  has  done  immense  mischief. 
Many  doctors  still  follow  him,  and  scores  are  daily  sacrificed 
to  bark  and  wine.  My  method  is  too  simple  for  them.  They 
forget  that  a  stone  from  the  sling  of  David  effected  what  the 
whole  armoury  of  Saul  could  not  do.  Many  hundreds  of  my 
patients  now  walk  the  streets  and  follow  their  ordinary  business. 
Could  our  physicians  be  persuaded  to  adopt  the  new  mode  of 
treating  the  disorder,  the  contagion  might  be  eradicated  from 
our  city  in  a  few  weeks.  But  they  not  only  refuse  to  adopt  it 
but  they  persecute  and  slander  the  author  of  it.  Sep.  16.  Since 
writing  the  above  I  have  had  an  attack  of  the  disorder,  but  in 
consequence  of  losing  blood  and  taking  one  of  my  purges  I  am 
now  perfectly  well — so  much  so  that  I  rested  better  last  night 


4i2       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

than  I  have  done  for  a  week  past.  Thus  you  see  that  I  have 
proved  upon  my  own  body  that  the  yellow  fever  when  treated 
in  the  new  way,  is  no  more  than  a  common  cold.  I  tho't  it  proper 
to  give  you  this  information  to  prevent  your  being  alarmed  by 
reports  concerning  me.  Dont  think  of  coming  to  see  me.  Our 
city  is  a  great  mass  of  contagion.  The  very  air  in  it  is  now  offen- 
sive to  the  smell.  If  I  should  relapse  you  shall  hear  from  me.  Mr. 
Stall  and  Mr.  Cox  are  doing  wonders  in  our  city.  They  visit  and 
cure  all  my  patients.  Adieu.  Continue  not  only  to  pray  for,  but 
to  give  thanks  for  my  dear  Julia  your 

ever  affectionate 

BENJN  RUSH. 


PHILADELPHIA  Octobr  28.  1793. 

MY  DEAR  JULIA, — I  have  great  pleasure  in  informing  you 
that  Dr.  ...  is  much  better.  He  was  bled  five  times.  After  the 
3rd  bleeding  an  old  patient  of  Dr.  .  .  .'s  yent  down  to  Glouces- 
ter and  begged  Mrs.  ...  in  the  most  pathetic  terms  not  to 
consent  to  his  being  bled  again.  Mrs.  .  .  .  acted  with  firmness 
and  propriety,  and  submitted  to  the  subsequent  bleedings  with 
full  confidence  of  their  being  proper,  tho'  advised  only  by 
Mr.  Coxe.  In  this  way  have  I  been  opposed  and  frequently  de- 
feated, from  the  commencement  of  the  disorder,  by  the  interfer- 
ence of  the  friends  and  followers  of  Dr.  .  .  . 

The  disease  visibly  and  universally  declines.  But  some  worthy 
people  still  have  it,  among  whom  is  our  cousin  Parry  Hall  who 
is  in  great  danger.  Dr.  .  .  .  and  Mr.  Fisher  attend  him. 

Tomorrow  we  expect  to  move  into  the  front  parlour.  Our 
little  back  parlour  has  resembled  for  two  months  past  the  cabin 
of  a  ship.  It  has  been  shop,  library,  council  chamber,  dining 
room,  and  at  night  a  bed  chamber  for  one  of  the  servants.  My 
mother  has  hired  Betsey  Correy  at  7/6  a  week  to  take  charge 
of  the  kitchen,  which  will  enable  Marcus  to  clean  and  white- 
wash the  house,  and  to  purify  all  the  infected  articles  of  furni- 
ture in  it. 


ON  MISCELLANEOUS  THINGS  413 

A  new  clamor  has  been  excited  against  me  in  which  many 
citizens  take  a  part.  I  have  asserted  that  the  yellow  fever  was 
generated  in  our  city.  This  assertion  they  say  will  destroy  the 
character  of  Philad.  for  healthiness,  and  drive  Congress  from  it. 
Truth  in  science  as  in  morals  never  did  any  harm.  If  I  prove 
my  assertion,  which  I  can  most  easily  do,  I  shall  at  the  same  time 
point  out  the  means  of  preventing  its  ever  being  generated 
among  us  again.  I  am  urged  to  bring  forward  my  proofs  im- 
mediately. To  this  I  have  objected,  until  I  am  able  to  call  upon 
a  number  of  persons  for  the  priviledge  of  using  their  names. 
To  a  gentleman  who  pressed  the  matter  upon  me  this  day,  1 
said  that  the  good  opinion  of  the  citizens  of  Philad.  was  now  of 
little  consequence  to  me,  for  that  I  thought  it  probable  from 
present  appearances,  that  I  should  begin  to  seek  a  retreat  and 
subsistance  in  some  other  part  of  the  United  States. 

"Do  all  the  good  you  can  [said  Mr.  Westly  to  Mr.  Pilmore 
when  he  entered  into  the  ministry],  expect  to  be  persecuted 
for  doing  good,  and  learn  to  rejoice  in  persecution," — a  hard 
lesson  to  flesh  and  blood!  but  I  hope  it  will  please  my  divine 
Master  to  teach  it  to  me. 

Octobr  29th.  We  are  all  well — thank  God!  Adieu  from  yours 
with  usual  love  and  sincerity. 

BENJN  RUSH. 


Octobr  29.  1793. 

MY  DEAR  SISTER, — Your  affectionate  letters  drew  tears  from 
our  eyes.  Never  did  a  brother  feel  more  for  the  loss  of  a  sister 
than  I  felt  for  ours.  She  was  my  friend  and  councillor  in  the 
difficult  and  distressing  duties  I  was  called  upon  to  perform  to  my 
fellow  citizens.  She  was  my  nurse  in  sickness.  In  short  she  gave 
her  life  to  save  mine,  for  when  she  was  advised  to  go  out  of 
town  to  escape  the  fever,  she  calmly  said  "no,  I  will  stay  and 
take  care  of  my  brother,  though  I  were  sure  I  should  die  with 
the  disorder,  for  my  life  is  of  no  consequence  to  anybody  com- 
pared with  his."  During  the  prevalence  of  the  fever  she  was 


4i4       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

active,  intelligent  and  useful  among  the  patients  who  crowded 
my  house  at  every  hour  of  the  day,  and  at  most  of  the  hours 
of  the  night.  No  person  ever  wept  in  our  parlour  or  entry  [and 
many,  many  tears  were  shed  in  both]  with  whom  she  did  not 
weep.  Her  whole  soul  was  made  up  of  sympathy  and  kindness. 
In  her  last  illness  she  was  composed,  and  patient  as  an  angel. 
She  repeated  several  passages  from  the  psalms  expressive  of  the 
love  and  goodness  of  God,  the  day  before  she  died.  Her  last 
words  to  me  were  "A  thousand  and  a  thousand  thanks  to  you  my 
dear  brother  for  all  your  kindness  to  me." 

BENJN  RUSH. 


PHILADELPHIA  Novr  8th  1793. 

MY  DEAR  JULIA, — I  have  this  day  received  by  Capt.  Josiah 
from  London,  a  letter  to  you  from  Dr.  .  .  .  accompanied  with 
your  silk  gown  which  you  committed  to  his  care  to  be  dyed. 
I  have  sent  the  letter  by  the  post.  I  received  a  long  and  interest- 
ing letter  from  him  at  the  same  time,  also  a  valuable  medical 
book  from  Dr.  Proudfit. 

The  disease  has  declined  again  since  the  last  rain.  I  have  had 
no  calls  to  patients  in  the  yellow  fever  for  two  days  past,  but 
several  to  patients  indisposed  with  other  diseases.  My  applica- 
tions for  advice  in  my  house  have  been  considerable  likewise, 
but  from  no  person  affected  with  our  late  epidemic. 

That  my  letters  may  contain  a  faithful  narrative  of  all  that 
related  to  myself  during  the  late  calamities  of  our  city,  I  may 
now  venture  to  inform  you  that  in  the  morning  of  Octobr  ioth 
at  one  o'clock,  I  was  attacked  in  a  most  violent  manner  with  all 
the  symptoms  of  the  fever.  Seldom  have  I  endured  more  pain. 
My  mind  sympathized  with  my  body.  You,  and  my  seven  dear 
children  rushed  upon  my  imagination,  and  tore  my  heart  strings 
in  a  manner  I  had  not  experienced  in  my  former  illness.  A  re- 
covery in  my  weak  and  exhausted  state,  seemed  hardly  probable. 
At  2  o'clock  I  called  up  Marcus  and  Mr.  Fisher  who  slept  in  the 
adjoining  room.  Mr.  Fisher  bled  me  which  instantly  removed 


ON  MISCELLANEOUS  THINGS  415 

my  pains,  and  then  gave  me  a  dose  and  an  half  of  the  mercurial 
medicine.  It  puked  me  several  times  during  the  night,  and 
brought  off  a  good  deal  of  bile  from  my  stomach.  The  next 
morning  it  operated  downwards,  and  relieved  me  so  much,  that 
I  was  able  to  sit  up  long  eno'  to  finish  my  letter  to  you.  In  the 
afternoon,  my  fever  returned,  attended  with  a*  sleepiness,  which 
is  always  considered  as  an  alarming  symptom.  Mr.  Fisher  bled 
me  again,  which  immediately  removed  it.  I  slept  pretty  well,  the 
next  night,  was  very  weak,  but  free  of  pain  the  next  day;  but 
the  night  following,  I  fell  into  just  such  a  fainting  fit,  as  I  had 
about  the  crisis  of  my  pleurisy  in  the  year  1788.  I  called  upon 
Marcus  who  slept  in  the  room  with  me  for  something  to  drink, 
and  afterwards  for  some  nourishment,  which  revived  me  in  a 
few  minutes,  so  that  I  slept  well  the  remaining  part  of  the  night. 
One  or  two  nights  afterwards  he  gave  me  something  to  eat, 
which  prevented  a  return  of  the  fainting  fits.  It  was  not  till  the 
1 5th  of  the  month  I  was  able  to  sit  up,  nor  did  I  leave  my  room 
for  many  days  afterwards.  Mr.  Fisher  says  he  has  seen  no  person 
more  violently  seized  than  I  was.  My  recovery  was  under  God 
owing  to  the  speedy  use  of  the  new  remedies. 

This  second  attack  of  the  fever,  I  now  see  was  sent  in  mercy 
to  me  and  my  family.  Had  I  not  been  arrested  by  it  in  my 
labors,  my  poor  frame  would  probably  have  sunk  before  this 
time,  under  nothing  but  weakness,  and  fatigue. 

I  used  to  wish  when  called  to  more  patients  than  I  could 
attend,  that  I  had  an  hundred  hands,  and  an  hundred  feet.  I  now 
wish  that  I  had  an  hundred  hearts  and  an  hundred  tongues  to 
praise  the  power,  goodness  and  mercy  of  my  gracious  Deliverer, 
to  whom  alone  belong  the  issues  from  sickness,  and  the  grave. 

Strike  out  from  the  list  of  deaths  in  your  letters  Jos.  Harrison, 
and  Jonth  Penrose.  Many  people  walk  the  streets  now,  who  were 
said  to  be  dead,  during  the  prevalence  of  the  disorder.  Adieu. 
Love  as  usual. 

Yrs.  sincerely 

BENJN  RUSH, 


APPENDIX 


LIST 

of  the  'writings  of  Benjamin  Rush  published  during  his  lifetime. 


An  inquiry  into  the  natural  history  of  medicine  among  the 
Indians  of  North  America,  and  a  comparative  view  of  their 
diseases  and  remedies,  with  those  of  civilized  nations. 

An  account  of  the  climate  of  Pennsylvania,  and  its  influence  upon 
the  human  body. 

An  account  of  the  bilious  remitting  fever,  as  it  appeared  in  Phila- 
delphia in  the  summer  and  autumn  of  the  year  1780. 

An  account  of  the  scarlatina  anginosa,  as  it  appeared  in  Philadel- 
phia in  the  years  1783  and  1784. 

An  inquiry  into  the  cause  and  cure  of  the  cholera  infantum. 

Observations  on  the  cynanche  trachealis. 

An  account  of  the  efficacy  of  blisters  and  bleeding  in  the  cure 
of  obstinate  intermitting  fevers. 

An  account  of  the  disease  occasioned  by  drinking  cold  water  in 
warm  weather,  and  the  method  of  curing  it. 

An  account  of  the  efficacy  of  common  salt  in  the  cure  of  haemop- 
tysis. 

Thoughts  on  the  cause  and  cure  of  pulmonary  consumption. 

Observations  upon  worms  in  the  alimentary  canal,  and  upon 
anthelmintic  medicines. 

An  account  of  the  external  use  of  arsenic  in  the  cure  of  cancers. 

Observations  on  the  tetanus. 

The  result  of  observations  made  upon  the  diseases  which  occurred 

419 


420       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

in  the  military  hospitals  of  the  United  States,  during  the 

Revolutionary  War. 
An  account  of  the  influence  of  the  military  and  political  events 

of  the  American  Revolution  upon  the  human  body. 
An  inquiry  into  the  relations  of  tastes  and  aliments  to  each  other, 

and  upon  the  influence  of  this  relation  upon  health  and 

pleasure. 

The  new  method  of  inoculating  for  the  small-pox. 
An  inquiry  into  the  effects  of  ardent  spirits  upon  the  human 

body  and  mind,  with  an  account  of  the  means  of  preventing, 

and  the  remedies  for  curing  them. 
Observations  on  the  duties  of  a  physician,  and  the  methods  of 

improving  medicine;  accommodated  to  the  present  state  of 

society  and  manners  in  the  United  States. 
An  inquiry  into  the  causes  and  cure  of  sore  legs. 
An  account  of  the  state  of  the  body  and  mind  in  old  age,  with 

observations  on  its  diseases  and  their  remedies. 
An  inquiry  into  the  influence  of  physical  causes  upon  the  moral 

faculty. 

Observations  upon  the  cause  and  cure  of  pulmonary  consump- 
tion. 

Observations  upon  the  symptoms  and  cure  of  dropsies. 
Inquiry  into  the  cause  and  cure  of  the  gout. 
Observations  on  the  nature  and  cure  of  the  hydrophobia. 
An  account  of  the  measles  as  they  appeared  in  Philadelphia  in  the 

spring  of  1789. 
An  account  of  the  influenza,  as  it  appeared  in  Philadelphia  in  the 

years  1790  and  1791. 
An  inquiry  into  the  cause  of  animal  life. 
Outlines  of  a  theory  of  fever. 

An  account  of  the  bilious  yellow  fever,  as  it  appeared  in  Phila- 
delphia in  1793,  and  of  each  successive  year  till  1805. 
An  inquiry  into  the  various  sources  of  the  usual  forms  of  the 

summer  and  autumnal  diseases  in  the  United  States,  and  the 

means  of  preventing  them. 
Facts,  intended  to  prove  the  yellow  fever  not  to  be  contagious. 


APPENDIX  421 

Defence  of  blood-letting,  as  a  remedy  in  certain  diseases. 

An  inquiry  into  the  comparative  states  of  medicine  in  Philadel- 
phia, between  the  years  1760  and  1766,  and  1805. 

A  volume  of  essays,  literary,  moral  and  philosophical,  in  which 
the  following  subjects  are  discussed: 

A  plan  for  establishing  public  schools  in  Pennsylvania,  and  for 
conducting  education  agreeably  to  a  republican  form  of 
government.  Addressed  to  the  legislature,  and  citizens  of 
Pennsylvania,  in  the  year  1786. 

Of  the  mode  of  education  proper  in  a  republic. 

Observations  upon  the  study  of  the  Latin  and  Greek  languages, 
as  a  branch  of  liberal  education;  with  hints  of  a  plan  of 
liberal  instruction  without  them,  accommodated  to  the  pres- 
ent state  of  society,  manners,  and  government,  in  the  United 
States. 

Thoughts  upon  the  amusements  and  punishments  which  are 
proper  for  schools. 

Thoughts  upon  female  education,  accommodated  to  the  present 
state  of  society,  manners  and  government,  in  the  United 
States  of  America. 

A  defence  of  the  Bible  as  a  school  book. 

An  address  to  the  ministers  of  the  gospel  of  every  denomination 
in  the  United  States,  upon  subjects  interesting  to  morals. 

An  inquiry  into  the  consistency  of  the  punishment  of  murder 
by  death,  with  reason  and  revelation. 

A  plan  of  a  peace-office  for  the  United  States. 

Information  to  Europeans  who  are  disposed  to  migrate  to  the 
United  States  of  America. 

An  account  of  the  progress  of  population,  agriculture,  manners 
and  government,  in  Pennsylvania. 

An  account  of  the  manners  of  the  German  inhabitants  of  Penn- 
sylvania. 

Thoughts  on  common  sense. 

An  account  of  the  vices  peculiar  to  the  Indians  of  North  America. 

Observations  upon  the  influence  of  the  habitual  use  of  tobacco, 
upon  health,  morals,  and  property. 


422       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

An  account  of  the  sugar  maple  tree  of  the  United  States. 

An  account  of  the  life  and  death  of  Edward  Drinker,  who  died 

on  the  iyth  of  November,  1782,  in  the  one  hundred  and 

third  year  of  his  age. 
Remarkable  circumstances  in  the  constitution  and  life  of  Ann 

Woods,  an  old  woman  of  ninety-six  years  of  age. 
Biographical  anecdotes  of  Benjamin  Lay. 
Biographical  anecdotes  of  Anthony  Benezet. 
Paradise  of  negro  slaves — a  dream. 
Eulogium  upon  Dr.  William  Cullen. 
Eulogium  upon  David  Rittenhouse. 
A  volume  of  lectures,  most  of  which  were  introductory  to  his 

annual  courses  of  lectures  on  the  institutes  and  practice  of 

medicine. 

% 

Medical  inquiries  and  observations  on  the  diseases  of  the  mind. 


SELECTED    BIBLIOGRAPHY 

"A  Memorial  containing  Travels  Through  Life,  or  Sundry  Incidents  in 
the  Life  of  Dr.  Benjamin  Rush.  Written  by  Himself.  Also  Extracts 
from  His  Commonplace  Book  as  well  as  A  Short  History  of  the  Rush 
Family  in  Pennsylvania."  Edited  by  Louis  Alexander  Biddle.  Lanoraie, 
1905. 

"An  Account  of  the  Bilious  Remitting  Yellow  Fever  as  It  Appeared  in  the 
City  of  Philadelphia  in  the  Year  1793."  Philadelphia,  1794. 

"Old  Family  Letters  Relating  to  the  Yellow  Fever."  Series  B.  Edited  by 
Alexander  Biddle.  Philadelphia,  J.  B.  Lippincott,  1892. 

"Rush  Papers"  in  the  Ridgway  Branch  of  the  Library  Company  of 
Philadelphia,  the  Pennsylvania  Historical  Society,  the  American 
Philosophical  Society,  the  Pierpont  Morgan  Library,  the  University 
of  Pennsylvania,  the  Philadelphia  College  of  Physicians,  the  Girard 
Estate,  the  New  York  Academy  of  Medicine,  the  New  York 
Historical  Society,  the  Library  of  Congress.  Also  in  the  following 
collections:  Dreer,  Gratz,  Cadwalader,  Conarroe,  Etting,  Irvine, 
Logan,  Pemberton,  Peters,  Sprague,  Watson,  Wayne  and  Wilson 
Papers. 

"Rush  Letters"  in  the  Library  Company  of  Philadelphia;  Yale  University 
Library,  Franklin  Collection;  Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania, 
Gratz  Collection. 

"Journal  of  Rush's  Trip  to  Paris"  in  the  Pierpont  Morgan  Library,  New 
York. 

"Letters  of  Members  of  the  Continental  Congress."  Edited  by  E.  C. 
Burnett,  Washington,  D.  C.,  1921-36.  Volumes  I  to  III,  Volume  VII. 

Index  Catalogue  of  the  Library  of  the  Surgeon- General's  Office,  U.  S.  A., 
Volume  XII.  Washington,  D.  C,  1891. 


Ramsay,  David.  "An  Eulogium  upon  Benjamin  Rush,  M.D."  1813. 

Robinson,  Victor.  "The  Myth  of  Benjamin  Rush."  Medical  Life,  Septem- 
ber 1929,  Volume  XXXVI. 

Cobbett,  William.  Porcupine's  Gazette.  Philadelphia,  files  for  1797.  The 
Rush  Light.  New  York,  1800. 

Eve,  Sarah.  "Extracts  from  the  Journal  of  Miss  Sarah  Eve  While  Living 
near  the  City  of  Philadelphia  in  1772-3."  Pennsylvania  Magazine  of 
History  and  Biography,  Volume  V.  Philadelphia,  1881. 

423 


424       SELECTED  WRITINGS  OF  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

Ford,  Paul  Leicester.  "Dr.  Rush  and  General  Washington."  Atlantic 

Monthly,  Volume  LXXV.  Boston,  1895. 

Mitchell,  Silas  Weir.  "Historical  Notes  of  Dr.  Benjamin  Rush."  Penn- 
sylvania Magazine  of  History  and  Biography,  Philadelphia,  1903. 
Ramsay,  David.  "A  Report  of  an  Action  for  Libel  Brought  by  Benjamin 

Rush  against  William  Cobbett."  Philadelphia,  1800. 
Butterfield,  L.  H.  "Report  of  Progress."  American  Philosophical  Society 

Year  Book.  1945. 
Mills,  Charles  K.  "Benjamin  Rush  and  American  Psychiatry."  Medico 

Legal  Journal.  1886. 
Shryock,  Richard  H.  "The  Psychiatry  of  Benjamin  Rush."  American 

Journal  of  Psychiatry,  Volume  IV.  1945. 
Galdston,  lago.  "Diagnosis  in  Historical  Perspective."  Bulletin  of  the 

History  of  Medicine.  1941. 
Butterfield,  L.  H.  "Benjamin  Rush:  a  Physician  as  Seen  in  His  Letters." 

Bulletin  of  the  History  of  Medicine,  Volume  XX,  No.  2.  1946. 
Wittels,  Fritz.   "The  Contribution  of  Benjamin  Rusji  to  Psychiatry." 

Bulletin  of  the  History  of  Medicine,  Volume  XX,  No.  2.  1946. 
Butterfield,  L.  H.  "A  Survey  of  Benjamin  Rush  Papers."  The  Pennsylvania 

Magazine  of  History  and  Biography,  Volume  LXX,  No.  i.  1946. 


Carey,  Matthew.  "A  Short  Account  of  the  Malignant  Fever  Lately 
Prevalent  in  Philadelphia."  Philadelphia,  1793. 

Good,  Harry  G.  "Benjamin  Rush  and  His  Services  to  American  Edu- 
cation." Berne,  Indiana,  Witness  Press,  1918. 

Goodman,  Nathan  G.  "Benjamin  Rush,  Physician  and  Citizen."  Phila- 
delphia, University  of  Pennsylvania  Press,  1934. 

Lettsom,  John  Coakley.  "Recollections  of  Dr.  Rush."  London,  1815. 

Shippen,  Nancy.  "Nancy  Shippen,  Her  Journal  Book."  Compiled  and 
edited  by  Ethel  Armes,  Philadelphia,  J.  B.  Lippincott,  1935. 

Flexner,  James  Thomas.  "Doctors  on  Horseback."  New  York,  1937. 

Gross,  D.  Samuel,  editor.  "Lives  of  Eminent  American  Physicians  and 
Surgeons  in  the  Nineteenth  Century."  Philadelphia,  1861. 

Burrage,  W.  L.  and  Kelly,  H.  A.,  editors.  "Dictionary  of  American 
Medical  Biography."  1928. 

Fitzpatrick,  John  G,  editor.  "The  Writings  of  George  Washington  from 
the  Original  Manuscript  Sources,  1745-1799."  U.  S.  Government 
Printing  Office,  Washington,  D.  C. 

Caldwell,  Charles.  "Autobiography."  Edited  by  Harriet  W.  Warner, 
Philadelphia,  1855. 


INDEX 


Adam,  41,  375 

Adams,  John,  57 

Addison,  59,  367 

Aenead,   374 

Aeneas,  192,  375 

African   Church   of   Philadelphia,    24, 

.25 

African  Company,  13 
Agriculture, 

books  on,  308 

in  France,  391,  392 

livelihood  for  physicians,  308,  309 

national  health,  290 
Aiken,  Dr.,   195 
Alchemical  mania,  216 
Amentia,   183 
"American  Museum,"  35 
American  Revolution, 

events  of,  325,  326 

influences    on    human    body    and 

mind,  326-333 
American  Stamp  Act,  13 
Amhurst,  Sir  William,  280 
Amnesia,    183 
Amusements  proper  for  schools, 

associated  with  future  employment, 
106-109 

exclusion  of  gunnery,   107,   108 
"Anarchia,"  333 
Anatomy,  133,  134 
Animal   electricity,    177 
Animal  life, 

infancy,  152,  153 

lectures  on,  133 

middle  stage,  155 

old  age,   155 


Animal  magnetism,  313 

Anomia,  192 

Anthony,  183 

Appetite,    indicative    of    disease,    277, 

284 

Araeteus,  228 
Architecture, 

English,  374 

French,  374 
Ardent  spirits, 

effects  upon  man,  334—341 
Arnold,  Dr.,   162 
Art  of  Living,  French,  383 
Assembly, 

annual  elections,  65 

disadvantages    of    single    legislative 
group,  58,  76,  77 

opten  meetings,  64 
Association,  influence  on  morals,  204, 

205 

Atheism,   170,   171,   179 
Aurengezebe,  Emperor  of  Persia,  284 
Avarice,  vice  of  physicians,  297 

Bacon,  Lord,  122,  261 

Baglivi,  Dr.,  235,  329 

Baldness,  346 

Ballonius,  229 

Bancroft,  Dr.,  257,  288 

Barnevelt,  66 

Barton,  Dr.,  174 

Beattie,  Dr.,  182,  318 

Bell,  Dr.,  241 

Belknap,     Rev.     Jeremy,     letter     to, 

"7 
Benezet,  Anthony,   196,  210,  350 


425 


426 


INDEX 


Bible,  7,  21 

as  a  school  book,  117-130 

Doctrine  of  Love,  125 

early  aptitude  for  learning  its  tenets, 
117,  118 

on  capital  punishment,  48,  49 

teaches  Truth,  119 

value  to  medical  science,  123 
Bill  of  Rights,  32,  54,  77 

natural  and  civil  rights,  55 
Black,  Dr., 

"History  of  Medicine,"  250 

research  work,  304 
Blacklock,  158 
Blane,  Dr.,  327 
Bleeding,  in  old  age,  356 
Blood  phobia,  223 

Boerhaave,  Dr.,  133,  134,  148,  228,  229, 
250,  251,  252,  278,  299 

humanity  of,  301 

piety  of,  310 
Bolingbroke,  59,  128 
Borreau,  376 
Botallus,  299 
Boyle,  122,  158,  159 
Brambilla,  Dr.,  151 
Brissot,   1 68 
Brown,  Dr.,    136,    137,    145,    147,    148, 

228,  247,  250,  251,  252 
Brown,  editor  of  "Federal  Gazette," 

396 

Bruce,  123,  153 
Brydone,  200 

Burgoyne,  General,  82,  329 
Burnet,  Bishop,  366 
Butler,  318 

Cadwallader,  Dr.,  285 
Caesar,  183,  259 
Cain,  41 
Capital  punishment, 

punishing  murder  by  death,  35-53 

revision  of  penal  code,  20 
Carver,  Captain,  269 
Cassius,  183 
Cat  phobia,  220 
Cavendish,  228 
Chardin,  356 

Charity,  benefits  of,  399-403 
Charlevoix,  255 
Chatham,  Lord,  217 


Cheselden,  299 
Child  bearing,  288 
Chisholm,  Dr.,  234,  298 
Chovet,  Dr.,  354,  356 
Christ,  9,  10,  37 

"Golden  Rule,"  9 

miraculous  cures,  286 
Christianity, 

declares  war  unlawful,  51 

human  understanding,  211 

incompatible  with  slavery,  9 

influenced  abolishment  of  capital 
punishment,  51 

religious  conversion  of  slaves,  10 
Church  de  Sorbonne,  376 
Church  phobia,  224 
Cicero,  378 

moral  faculty,  181 

orator,  393 
Cleanliness,  197^  198 

in  old  age,  356 
Cleghorn,  Dr.,  "Account  of  Diseases 

of  Minorca,"  229,  230 
Clergy,  French,  381,  382 
Climate, 

effects  on  diseases,  271,  272 

effects  on  moral  faculty,  192,  193 
Clymer,  George, 

letter  to,  106-116 

representative  from  Pennsylvania, 

114 
Cochin-China,  5 

College  of  Physicians,  406,  409 
Confederation, 

defects,  27,  28 

need  for  two  houses,  27 
Conscience,  181,  182,  185,  186 
"Conscious  Lovers,"  379 
Constantine,  9 
Constitution, 

free  government,  54 

of  Pennsylvania,  55-84 

of  Massachusetts  Bay,  82,  83 

revision  needed,  79-82 
Convention  of  New  York,  81 
Convention  of  Pennsylvania,  74,  75, 

76,  77 
Council  of  Censors,  64,  74,  75,  76,  78 

a  check  on  the  assembly,  66 
Count  D'Artois  of  France,  390 
Cook,  Captain,  198 


INDEX 


4*7 


Cornelia,  283 
Cornwall!?,  Lord,  331 
Creighton,  Dr.,  162 
Cretins,  144,  158 

Cullen,  Dr.,   136,   137,   174,   187,   228, 
234,  247,  250,  251,  252,  301,  330 

nerves,  disease  of,  278 

nosology,  273 

nostalgia,  328 

on  hydrophobia,  220 

on  ftiadness,  212,  332 

pulse,  277 
Cyrus,  208 

Darwin,  Dr.,  145,  151 
Dauphin  of  France,  389,  390 
David,  20 1 
Death,  175,  176 

due  to  intemperance,  340 

fear  of,  351 

resuscitation,  241,  242 
Death  phobia,  225 
De  Haen,  269 
Deists,  49,  118 

in  France,  381 
Demosthenes,  378 
Desdemona,  200 
Dewit,  Dr.,  354 
Diabetes,  337 
Dido,  375 
Diet, 

effect  on  moral  faculty,  193 

influence  on  health,  285,  286,  287 

in  old  age,  355 
Dirt  phobia,  221 
Diseases, 

definition,  251 

effect  on  intellect,  195 

effect  on  longevity,  345 

effect  on  moral  faculty,  195 

in  old  age,  352-354 

nervous,  278 

of  civilized  nations,  271 

of  North  American  Indians,  261-270 
Dispensary,  in  Philadelphia,  400 
Doctor  phobia,  223 
Dolabella,  183 
Donation  mania,  214 
Dreams,  164 

effect  on  moral  faculty,  188 

of  children,  154 


Dreams— cont'd 

of  old  people,  156,  351 
Dress,  in  France,  383 
Dress  mania,  217 
Drink,  effect  on  moral  faculty,   193, 

194 
Drunkenness,  334-340 

medical  vice  294 
Drinker,  Edward,  346 
Dubourg,  John  Barew,  393 
Duelling  mania,  215 
Duke  of  Orleans,  palace  of,  375 
Duke  of  Sully,  46,  89 

memoirs,  184,  185 
Duke  of  Tuscany,  36 
Dysentery,    among   North    American 
Indians,  261,  266 

Eating  habits, 

effect  on  health,  164 

in  old  age,  348 
Ecclesiastical  mania,  217 
Edict  of  Nantes,  380 
Education, 

advantages  of  learning,  97 

arts,  94 

for  women,  95,  96 

free  schools,  19,  20,  98 

government,  95 

history  and  chronology,  94 

languages,  93 

"liberal  education,"  93 

mathematics,  93 

moral  teachings,  oo 

political  instruction,  91,  92,  93 

religion  the  foundation,  88 

sciences,  94 

vocal  music,  92 

Elizabeth,  Queen  of  England,  211 
Emotions,  effect  on  the  body,  14^,  145 
Empress  of  Russia,  36 

abolishes  capital  punishment,  44 
Engelbrecht,  apparent  death  and  re- 
turn to  life,  163,  164 
English  Constitution,  16 
Epicurean  philosophy,  179 
Epilepsy,  338 
Excitement,    state   of,    necessary   for 

good  health,  146,  251 
Executive  powers  of  a  free  govern- 
ment, 69,  70 


428 


INDEX 


Exercise, 
active,  360-364 
in  old  age,  355 
passive,  364-367 
time  for,  368 

Faction  phobia,  222 

Family    letters,    written    during    the 

yellow  fever  epidemic,  404-415 
Fasting,  159 

Federal  Constitution,  19,  32 
"Federal  Gazette,"  396 
Federal  University,  29 

degree  requisite  for  civil  or  public 
office,  104 

plans  for,  101 

preparation  for  civil  and  public  ca- 
reers, 102 

subjects  taught,  102,  103 
Fevers, 

among  civilized  nations, 

among    North    American    Indians, 
261 

nervous  fever,  285 
Fothergill,  Dr.,  198,  289 

humanity  of,  301,  302,  305 

piety  of,  299,  310 

promotes  science,  303,  304 

tribute  to  family,  306 
Foundling  Hospital,  -377 
Franklin,  Dr.  Benjamin,  67,  144,  367 

longevity,  343,  345,  347,  356 
Free  government,  54 

dangers  of  a  single  legislature,  60- 
68 

double  or  compound  legislature,  68, 

69 
French  women, 

impropriety  of,  379,  380 

lack  of  delicacy,  379 

painting,  379,  386 

virtue  of,  380 

Galen,  228,  299 

on  humanity,  300 
Gaming  mania,  215 
Gajes,  General,  329 
German  Lutheran  School,  401 
Ghost  phobia,  224,  255 
Gibbon,  102 
Girtanner,  Dr.,  136 


God,  9 
His  exclusive  power  to  give  life  and 

destroy  it,  38,  39 
love    for    Him    to    be    taught    in 

schools,  120 
Goldsmith,  Dr.,  219 
Goodwin,  Dr.,  140 
Gout, 
among  Indians  of  North  America, 

263,   264 

due  to  intemperance,  338 
Gregory,  Dr.,  197,  310 

Habit,  effect  on  morals,  203,  204 

Hales,  Dr.,  169 

Haller,  Dr.,  151,  167,  301,  351 

on  corporal  punishment,  in 

on  religion,  299,  310 
Haman,  217 

Hamilton,  Sir  ,Wm.,  168 
Hamlet,  204 

Hand,  Edward,  255,  268 
Harrington,  58,  78 
Hartley,  Dr.,  135,  242,  318 

on  piety,  299 
Hazard,  40 
Heberden,  Dr.,  277 
Henry  III  of  England,  394 
Henry  III  of  France,  200 
Henry  IV,  89,  211,  375 
Hippocrates,  228,  230,  277 

on  humanity,  300 

patriotism  of,  303 
Hoffman,  Dr.,  247,  274,  299 
Holland,  endemics,  278 
Home,  Dr.,  304,  308 
Home  phobia,  224 
Homer,  158 
Horace,  119 
Horse  mania,  213 
Hospital  of  God,  377 
Hospitals,  284 

in  France,  377 

in  Philadelphia,  400 
House  of  Commons,  61 
House  of  Lords,  61 
House  of  Representatives,  state,  57 
Howard,  195,  196,  197 
Howell,  "Familiar  Letters,"  278 
Howe,  General,  78 
Huck,  Dr.,  276 


INDEX 


429 


Humane  mania,  218 

Humanity,  in  physicians,  300,  301,  302 

Hume,  "History  of  England,"  331 

Hunter,  Dr.,  133,  134,  304,  308 

Hunter,  John,  152   161,  173,  174 

Hunting,  in  France,  387 

Hunting  mania,  215 

Husbandry,  392 

Hutchison,  Dr.,  182 

Hutton,  John  S.,  345,  347 

Huxham,  229 

Hydrophobia,  220 

Hygiaea,  371,  372 

Hypochondria,  285,  332 

"Protection  Fever,"  332 

"Revolutiana,"  332       • 
Hysteric  disorders,  285 

in  wartime,  330 

Idleness,   195,   196 

cause  of*  disease,  271 
Imagination, 

affected  by  disease,  186 

moral  faculty,  188 
Impeachment  of  state  officers,  73 
Insect  phobia,  220,  221 
Intellectual  faculty,  188,  189 
Intemperance,   cause   of   disease,   271, 
337'  338 

Jaundice,  337 
Jews,  7,  8 

health,  286 

knowledge   of   the   Scriptures,    120, 

121 
Johnson,  Dr.,  102,  235,  350 

on  corporal  punishment,  HI 

death  phobia,  225 

ecclesiastical  mania,  217 
Josiah,  121 
Josiah,  Capt.,  414 
Judgment,  affected  by  disease,  186 
Judicial  body  of  free  government,  71, 

7* 
Junius,  102 

Kalm,  268 
King  of  Prussia, 

death  phobia,  225 

ghost  phobia,  225 

poetry  of,  288 


King  of  Sweden,  36 


La  Hontan,  255 
Land  mania,  213 
Laughing  and  crying,  promote  human 

life,  153 

Lavoissicr,  138,  228 
Laws,  executive  part  of  Constitution, 

54 

Laws  of  Barbadoes,  18 
Lay,  Benj.,   145 
Legislation, 

against  slavery,  16 

benefitting  Negroes,  17 
Le  Poivre,  5,  6 
Leprosy, 

among  civilized  nations,  277 

among  Indians  of  North  America, 

262 
Levitical  law, 

cleanliness,  197 

punishment  of  murderers,  39 
Liberty  mania,  213,  214 
Life, 

desire  to  live,  168,  344 

properties    of   motion,   sensation, 
thought,   135 

suspended,  160,  161 
Light,  effect  on  behaviour,  200 
Lind,  Dr.,  365 
Linnxus,  on  madness,  219 
Linning,  Dr.,  236 
Lobb,  Dr.,  299 
Locke,  33,  78,  146,  367 

Essay    on    Human    Understanding, 
189 

on  metaphysics,  318, 
Louis  VIII,  263 
Louis  XIII,  375 
Louis  XIV,  380 
Louis  XV,  390,  391 
Love  mania,  217 

Machine  mania,  215 
Maclurg,  Dr.,  262,  276 
Madness, 

definition,  212 

due  to  intemperance,  338 

species  of,  212-219 
Magau,  Dr.,  402 
Manassah,  121 


43° 


INDEX 


Mania,  183 

definition,  212 

species  of,  212-219 
Manners   and   customs,   French,   382, 

383,  385-38? 
Marie  de  Medici,  376 
Marius,  vices  of,  182 
Marquis  of  Beccaria,  46 
Materia  Medica,  177 
Mathematical  mania,  219 
Mather,  Dr.  Cotton,  280 
Mead,  Dr.,  8,  169 

humanity  of,  305 

South  Sea  madness,  332 
Medicine, 

observations  on,  245-292 

practice  of,  in  America,  248,  249 

practice  of,  in  France,  393,  394 

principles  of,  237-253 

progress  of,  227-244 

theory  of,  248,  249 
Medicine  Among  the  Indians  of  North 
America,  254-292 

anointing  body  with  oil,  259 

antidotes  to  poisons,  268,  269 

childbirth,  256,  258 

cold  baths,  259 

death,  261 

diet,  256,  257 

diseases,  261-270 

dysentery,  261,  266 

fevers,  261 

leprosy,  262 

natural  and  artificial  remedies, 
265-270 

pulse  rate,  260 

scurvy,  262 

smallpox,  262,  268 

venereal  diseases,  262,  268 
Medicines, 

discovering  new,  319,  320,  321 

effect  on  moral  faculty,  201 

prescribing,  311,  314 
Megapolensis,  Rev.,  40 
Melancholia,  183 
Memory, 

affected  by  disease,  186 

in  old  age,  349,  350 
Mercury,  in  curing  yellow  fever,  408 
Mesmer,  313 
Metaphysics,  227,  318 


Methodists,  morals,  208 
Michaelis,  Dr.,  120,  158 
Micronomia,   192 
Military  mania,  214 
Militia  law,  56,  72 

Delaware's  amendments,  68 
Miller,  Dr.,  240 
Milton,  59,  158,  208 

"Paradise  Lost,"  185,  375 
Mitchell,  Dr.,  240 
Mithridates,  208 
M'Kenzie,  Dr.,  "Essay  on  Health  and 

Long  Life,"  363 
Monarchial  mania,  214 
Montesquieu,  4,  58,  78 

"Spirit  of  Laws,"  4,  12,  17 
Moral  faculty,  181-211 
Mordecai,  217 
More,  Sir  Thomas,  115 
Morgan!,  349    «. 
Morton,  Dr.,  301 
Mosaic  law,  with  regard  to  murder, 

39 

Moses,  37,  124 
Moyse,  Dr.,  158 

Muratori,  "Antiquities  of  Italy,"  263 
Musical  mania,  219 

National  mania,  V7 
National  prejudices,  373 
Natural  history,  228 
Nature,  cures  diseases,  273,  274 
Nebuchadnezzar,  201,  286 
Negro  mania,  212,  213 
Nerves,  diseases  of,  278 

nervous  fever,  285 
Nervous  system,  177 
Newspaper,  directions  for  conducting, 

396-398 
New  Testament,  18 

cure  of  diseases,  242 

moral  faculty,  199,  201 

on  vice  and  crime,  339 
Newton,  Sir  Isaac,  78,  144,  208,  244, 
309,  367 

knowledge  of  Bible,  122 
Noah,  37,  38 
North,  Lord,  78 
Nosology,  234 

retarded  progress  of  medicine,  235, 
236 


INDEX 


43' 


Nostalgia,  328 
Nunneries,  French,  382 

Odor  phobia,  221 

Odours,  200 

Old  Testament,  8,  18,  120-128 

Aaron,  124 

Abraham,  7 

Amos,  1 8 

cure  of  diseases,  242 

Ezra,  8,  121 

historical  record,  119 

Jacob,  1 8 

Joshua,  7 

Leviticus,  8 

moral  faculty,  199,  201 

Proverbs,  8 

Rahab,  7 
Old  age, 

attainment  of,  342-357 

mental  changes,  349 

phenomena  of,  347 

physical  changes,  345-349 
Onesimus,  10 
Oratory,  French,  377 
Othello,  200 
Ovid,  Metamorphoses,  376 

Pain,  effect  on  moral  faculty,  197 
Paintings,  in  Paris,  375,  376 
Palace  of  Luxembourg,  375 
Palsy,  cause  of  death,  356,  357 
Parliament,  13 

in  France,  378 
Parr,  347 
Pascal,  226 
Passions, 

as  remedies  in  cure  of  diseases,  231 

opposed  to  longevity,  344 
Patriotism,  virtue  of  physicians,  303, 

304.  305 

"Peace  Office,"  19,  20,  21,  22 
Pennsylvania  Hospital,  400 
"Pennsylvania  Mercury,"  42 
Philemon,  10 
Phiiochoras, 

favouring  punishment  of  murder  by 
death,  42 

Rush's  argument  against  it,  43 
Phobia, 

definition,  220 


Phobia— contjd 

species  of,  220-226 
Physicians, 

advice  to,  311-321 

Christian  behavior  of,  310,  311 

duties  of,  308-321 

fees  for  service,  316,  317 

vices  of,  293-298 

virtues  of,  298-306 
Physiology,   133 
Piety,  in  physicians,  299,  310 
Pilmore,  Rev.  Mr.,  25 
Pleasure  mania,  218 
Pliny,  320 
Poetical  mania,  219 
Pompeyi  376 
Pontoppiddan,    "Natural    History    of 

Norway,"  263,  286,  288 
Pope,  376 
Post  office,  29,  30 
Power  phobia,  222 
Prescriptions,  311,  314 
Price,  59 
Pride  mania,  217 
Priestly,  Dr.,  228,  303 
Prince  de  Beaufremont,  347 
Pringle,  Sir  John,  120,  197,  198 
Prognosis  of  disease,  276,  277 
Prometheus,  337 
Protestants     (Hugonots),    in    France, 

380 
Pulpit, 

eloquence  of,  and  effect  on  moral 

faculty,  199 
Pulse,  239,  277 

in  old  age,  348 

of  Indians,  260 
Punishments  proper  for  schools,  109, 

113 

arguments  against  corporal  punish- 
ment, 110-113 
Pythagoras,  336 

Quakers,  122 
morals,  208 

Radcliff,  Dr.,  303 
Rambling  mania,  216 
Ramsay,  Dr.,  letter  to,  32-35 
Randolph,  Peyton,  330 
Ranks  of  mankind,  389 


432 


INDEX 


"Rape  of  Orythia,"  376 

Rat  phobia,  220 

Raynal,  Abbe,  29 

Reason,  effect  on  moral  faculty,  190 

Reid,  Dr.,  318 

Relief  of  Free  Negroes,  401 

Remedies, 

advice  on,  319,  320,  321 

among   civilized   nations,    275,    276, 
279,  282 

among    North    American    Indians, 
265-270,  279 

Nature's,  274 
Republican  mania,  214 
Respiration,   153 

Resuscitation,  161,  163,  240,  241,  242 
Richelieu,  Cardinal,  376 
Rittenhouse,  67,  137 
Riverius,  229 
Robertson,  Dr.,  10 
Rogue  mania,  218 
Rousseau,  164,  363 

"Moral  instinct,"  182,  190 
Royal  Family  of  France,  389,  390,  391 
Rubens,  376 
Rum  phobia,  222 
Rush,  Jacob,  352 
Rush,  Julia,  letters  to,  404-415 
Russel,  Dr.  Patrick,  195 

friendships  of,  305 

St.  Anthony,  214 

St.  John,  182 

St.  Paul,  10,  39,  47 
moral   faculty,    181,    182,    191,    201, 
202 

Sanctorius,  368 

Sanderson,  158 

Saul,  201,  286 

Sauvage,  Dr.,  251 

Say  re,  Dr.,  346,  410 

Schoolmasters,  dudes  of,  114 

Schools, 

amusements  proper  for,  106-109 
punishments  proper  for,  109-113 

Scurvy, 

among  civilized  nations,  277 
among  Indians  of  North  America, 
262 

Second  childhood,  351 

Sedatives,  177 


Sensation, 

excitability  to  motion,  136 

vital,  167 
Senses,  lack  of  sight,  hearing,  speech, 

'58»  '59 

Scrvin,  184,  185,  208 
Shaftesbury,  Lord,  119,  190 
Shakespeare,  200,  208 
Sharp,  Granville,  14 

letter  to,  24,  25 
Silence,  198,  199 
Slave-keeping,  3,  5,  6,  7 

education  for  Negroes,  14,  24 

end  of  domestic  slavery  in  Pennsyl- 
vania, 24 

inconsistent  with  Christian  behavior, 
u,  12,  17 

liberty,  6,  17 

manumission,  10 

punishment  of  slaves,  16 

unlawful,  13,  16,  17 
Sleep,  147-151 

excessive,  106 
Smallpox, 

among  Indians  of  North  America, 
262,  268 

inoculation  against,  290 
Smith,  123 

Smith,  Dr.  Adam,  182,  233,  260 
Society, 

in  England,  384 

in  France,  384,  389 
Society  for  the  Gradual  Abolition  of 

Slavery,  401 
Socinians,  49 
Socrates,  66 
Solano,  Dr.,  277 
Solitude,  198,  367 
Solo  phobia,  222 
Solomon, 

labour,  359 

moral  training,  202 
"Song  of  Solomon,"  5 
Soul, 

faculties  of,  366,  367,  368 

immortality  of,  191 
Sovereignty,  federal,  not  state  power, 

28 

"Spectator,"  3 
Spirituous  liquors, 

in  prescriptions,  312 


INDEX 


433 


Spirituous  liquors— confd 

physical  and  moral  evils,  289 
Sproats,  Dr.,  409 
Stage  plays,  in  France,  378,  379 
Stahl,  Dr.,  174,  247,  250 

"Anima  Medica,"  277 

on  religion,  299,  310 
Stamp  and  Revenue  Acts,  18 
State  colleges,  98 
State  University,  98 
Statuary,  in  Paris,  376 
Stern,  Dr.,  Sermons  Upon  Mortifica- 
tion, 382 
Sterne,  Dr.,  363 
Stewart,   138 
Stimulants,  177 

use  in  old  age,  354 
Stimuli, 

external,"  137-141 

internal,  141 

mental,  j68 

Supreme  Being,  178,  179 
Suspended  animation,  161,  242 
Swift,  Dr.,  350,  367 
Sydenham,    Dr.,    229,    230,    261,    275 
276,  285 

humanity  of,  301,  305 

piety  of,  310 

Tacitus,  8,  258,  289 

Taste,  effect  on  morals,  190 

Teeth, 

care  of,  288,  289 

loss  of,  345 

Temple,  Sir  William,  289 
Temple  of  Solomon,  374 
Thiery,  Dr.,  345 
Thunder  phobia,  224 
Tissot,  Dr.,  306,  367 
Trajan,  182 

statuary,  376 

Travels  through  France,  373-395 
"Tristam  Shandy," 

military  mania,  214 

want  phobia,  223 
Turner,  Dr.,  315 
Turner,  Rev.  Mr.,  37 

Umfreville,  152 

University  of  Cambridge,  105 


"Utopian  scheme,"  115 

Van  Helmont,  247 

Valli,  177 

Venereal  diseases,  among  Indians  of 
North  America,  262,  268 

Verulam,  Lord,  208 

Vice,  181,  182 

Vices  of  physicians,  293-298 

Virgil,  5,  374 

Virgin  Mary,  128 
church  dedicated  to,  375 

Virginia  Assembly,  13 

Virtue,  181,  182 

Virtues  of  physicians,  298-306 

Virtuoso  mania,  216 

Vogel,  Dr.,  251 

Volney,  165,  166 

Voltaire,  8,  128 

belief  in  religious  tolerance,  46 
Bible    as   source   of   knowledge   of 
justice,  118 

Want  phobia,  223 
War, 

diseases  caused  by  327-333 

education  to  prevent,  108 

evils  of,  22 

hardships  of,  288 

repeal  of  militia  laws,  21 
Ward,  Dr.,  270 
Washington,  George,  410 
Water  phobia,  222 
Waters,  Dr.,  338 
Webster,  240 
Whitehurst,  123 
Whytt,  Dr.,  143,  174 
Wintringham,  229 
Worms,   among  Indians  of   North 
America,  264 

Yellow  fever,  229,  238 

effect  of  intemperance  on,  337 

epidemic  of,  404-415 

letters  to  family  during  epidemic, 
404-415 

remedies  and  cures,  408,  409 

symptoms  of,  407,  414,  415 
Young,  Dr.,  221,  208